Giroux has three assists in return, Flyers hold off Rangers

PHILADELPHIA -- Claude Giroux had three assists for the Philadelphia Flyers in his first game back from the NHL COVID-19 protocol list, a 4-3 win against the New York Rangers at Wells Fargo Center on Wednesday.

"I felt pretty good in the morning skate so I wanted to play," Giroux said. "It's not that fun to watch the guys play when you're at home. To be back on the ice, it was very exciting."
Shayne Gostisbehere and Erik Gustafsson each had a goal and an assist, and Brian Elliott made 24 saves for Philadelphia (9-4-3).
Chris Kreider scored a hat trick, and Igor Shesterkin made 35 saves for New York (6-8-3), which had won three in a row on the road.

The Rangers were assessed eight penalties, which coach David Quinn said was the difference in the game.
"We shot ourselves in the foot with the penalties," Quinn said. "Two of them go over the glass, two too many men on the ice penalties, obviously one late in the game. ... You just can't take penalties like that."
Giroux last played Feb. 7. He missed two games and came off the protocol list Tuesday. He said he had a few days of bad health, but the Philadelphia captain practiced Tuesday, and after the morning skate Wednesday said he felt well enough to play.
"I didn't feel that great, but when you come back from a long time like that you try to keep your shifts short, keep it simple," Giroux said. "You don't want to get caught out there, so it turned out good tonight."

Giroux won a battle along the wall in the offensive zone that led to Gustafsson's goal to give the Flyers a 1-0 lead at 7:48 of the first period.
After Kreider's power-play goal tied it 1-1 at 9:32, Giroux assisted on Gostisbehere's power-play goal at 15:31 to put the Flyers ahead 2-1.
Giroux also set up Kevin Hayes' goal at 14:37 of the second period that gave Philadelphia a 4-2 lead.
Giroux played 20:54, led the Flyers with eight shots on goal and won 8 of 11 face-offs (73 percent).
"I didn't really know what to expect," Philadelphia coach Alain Vigneault said. "But you could tell early on that he had his game tonight. 'G' had a lot of jump, he had quickness to his game, he was making plays, so I used him and he didn't seem to be fatigued at all. He was a big part of us getting this win."

James van Riemsdyk's power-play goal at 4:05 of the second extended the Flyers lead to 3-1. He's tied with Toronto Maple Leafs forward Auston Matthews and Dallas Stars forward Joe Pavelski for the NHL lead with seven power-play goals.
Kreider's power-play goal at 8:03 made it 3-2. The forward kicked a pass from Mika Zibanejad onto his stick and scored from the right post.
After Hayes' goal, Kreider completed his third NHL hat trick at 3:27 of the third period to make it 4-3.
"The effort was there, no question," Kreider said. "It ends up being a special-teams battle. I like our process and our game when it's 5-on-5, and that's a team that's very good on the power play. ... But some other stuff that we've just got to clean up. It gives us a better chance if we stay 5-on-5 more often against that team."
Rangers forward Artemi Panarin missed his first game since taking a leave of absence for personal reasons Monday in response to a story being reported in Russia that alleged he had a physical altercation with an 18-year-old woman in Riga, Latvia, in 2011.
NOTES:Zibanejad had two assists for his first multipoint game of the season. ... Giroux played his 903rd NHL game, tying Bill Barber for second in Flyers history. Bobby Clarke is first with 1,144. ... Sean Couturier had an assist on van Riemsdyk's goal to give him seven points (three goals, four assists) during a four-game point streak. ... Gustafsson's goal was his first since Jan. 19, 2020. ... Flyers forward Carsen Twarynski had two hits playing 6:12 in his season debut. ... It was Kreider's third NHL hat trick, first since Dec. 31, 2016.