D-man Keith Yandle stands out for Rangers

There was one shorthanded instance when Stoll’s stick broke when he retreated to a central point on the ice and began directing traffic and blocking several passing lanes with his limbs. Fans get a glimpse of the organization’s young prospects, who are desperate to impress.

Of course, the position switch had everything else to do with Couturier’s absence…no?

While Gagner is clearly in the middle because of the Couturier injury, Hakstol said there was another reason to put him there. It makes sense for Vigneault to start the season with Kreider, Stepan and Nash on one line, and Miller with Brassard and Zuccarello on another … Asked what he was trying to do on the play, Stepan smiled and said, “Try to catch up as fast as I can”.

Forwards: Remember when I wrote that Viktor Stalberg could give Alain Vigneault another option as a top-six winger early in the regular season?

Raffl injured: Michael Raffl suffered an upper-body injury in the third period and did not return to action.

It obviously took him a while to re-adjust to the center spot in this game.

“It would have been good to get the win but the important thing is to feel good about my game, ” Mason said. “But more important in the exhibition is that I am feeling good about my game”. I know what Chris’s thought process is and I always tell him, ‘Go with your gut.

Be it at center or on the wing, Hakstol will have the chance to use Gagner next to Simmonds together, since Couturier is still out and Raffl’s injury fate was immediately unclear. “That’s why we’re asking him”. The son of former Los Angeles Kings left wing Sylvain, he is a citizen of Canada and helped the nation’s team capture the gold medal at the IIHF World Championship this past May. He’s given us a couple on right wing now. “I wanted to see what that would look like”, he said. I think that’s been happening. “It’s valuable if you can have that”.

Dylan McIlrath, who seems to be ahead of Raphael Diaz in the competition for the seventh spot on defense, played a poised and controlled game.

Mason was also less than happy with his club’s first period, in which the Flyers were outshot 16-5 by the Rangers… little matter that it ended with the Flyers leading 1-0 on a Mark Streit goal. The offensive defenseman converted a shot high to Mason’s stick side to win the game for New York. Keith Yandle decided the game by scoring on a penalty shot with 3:44 left in OT. For the way Mason played, it makes Yandle’s goal that much more momentous.

Stepan played the point on the power play Saturday, and though the game was choppy at even strength most of the night, he and Kreider and Miller dominated late. “I’m not going to change as a player or as a person”. We’re all learning from three-on-three. Wayne Simmonds notched a power play goal in the second period to extend the advantage to two goals. “Mason gave us a chance in the first and I thought we responded [after that]”. “I’ll start here tonight and keep it going”. But it would still be nice to see something from Gudas before the puck drops next Thursday. “If we do that we can set ourselves up better for the game”.

NOTES: Raffl’s prognosis on his upper body injury isn’t known as yet. He was unavailable after the game….

Voracek was tripped up by Rick Nash in overtime and fell hard on his arm, resulting in the Flyers’ star having trouble making it back to his feet. It certainly looked like Nash didn’t have to put his skate into Voracek’s on that play. “Things happen so quickly, and when you haven’t played games for a long time, you forget how quickly things can happen out there”. “I’m not going to whine about it”. The two that sat out Monday night were Michael Del Zotto and Evgeny Medvedev, who are a solid second pair in this camp.