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Flyers’ Raffl doing ‘fine’

Two scary moments highlighted a physical bout between the New York Rangers and Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday, with one player collapsing on the Flyers bench early in the second period.

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“Michael is a amusing guy and sometimes he does something amusing and I think that he is just joking around”, Giroux said.

The game featured 87 shots, including great looks in a chaotic overtime, but neither Mason nor Lundqvist could be beaten. Six seconds into a Flyers penalty kill, at the 2:58 mark, play was halted after Flyers’ players on the bench banged their sticks on the boards and hollered to get the officials’ attention. It has to be hard for fans and players alike to get their minds back into hockey after experiencing such a fright.

The Flyers had taken a brief, 2-1 lead less than three minutes earlier thanks to Laughton’s first goal of the season, a wrist shot from the left faceoff dot that went past Lundqvist’s lunging glove. It was Miller’s first goal of the season, along with five assists.

New York quickly countered 2 1/2 minutes later with a power-play goal from center Derick Brassard, assisted by right winger Kevin Hayes and left winger Chris Kreider.

Both goaltenders were lights out in the third period and brilliant in overtime.

Easy to joke knowing that the Flyers won and Raffl will be OK.

It was 2-2 when the Rangers had a go-ahead goal disallowed because of interference on Jarret Stoll in the second period.

Raffl had to be carried off the ice during Saturday’s game after apparently suffering a few sort of head injury.

“Michael’s fine. Michael stayed here”, Hextall said.

Raffl did look completely out of it as he was helped off the bench and to the locker room by McCrossin and equipment manager Harry Bricker.

The New York Rangers hope to build on their fast 5-2-1 start to the season. But Mason, spinning on his pads, reached back and swatted the puck away with his stick. “Simmer made a really nice pass to me and I just one-timed it. I tried to get it on net and I guess it got deflected off their forward but luckily enough it went in”. Flyers defensemen Brandon Manning and Evgeny Medvedev were on the same side of the ice during the sequence, as Miller camped out. With 1:06 remaining, Lundqvist somehow stopped Matt Read’s backhander from in front.

The Rangers had almost scored the first goal at 9:53, when Miller fed Oscar Lindberg at the goalmouth for a redirection. Scott Laughton picked up the puck and snapped a shot past Lundqvist from the circle at 2:07. The lengthy replay delay upheld the original call and cost the Rangers’ their lone timeout of the game. It was icing on the cake after knowing that Raffl was OK.

“We took a minute or two, just the bench to get everybody refocused”, Flyers coach Dave Hakstol said.

Neither did Stalberg after taking a shot to the chin from Gudas at the Rangers’ blue line at 18:54.

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Gagner had a breakaway in OT, but lost the puck near the crease.

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