Aggressions Abound in NY Rangers and Philadelphia Flyers Matchup Sunday

MSG announcers Joe Micheletti and Sam Rosen were quick to point out the similarities between yesterday's physicality and a typical playoff game.

It was an intense game, that's for sure, which is what one can always expect when the New York Rangers and the Philadelphia Flyers meet up for a little hockey.

But, unlike in years past, the Rangers have no hesitation in retaliating with their own aggressive style of play.

The Rangers continued their domination over the Flyers in a 5-2 win on home ice—their fourth straight win against them this season. And, if not for the efforts of Flyers netminder, Ilya Bryzgalov, the score would have been a lot more one-sided.

The Blueshirts put on the pressure right from the start with a goal by Artem Anisimov at 1:04 to start off the first period.

Brayden Schenn of the Flyers then tied things up for his team at 12:02 in the second with a beautiful breakaway goal.

Then, with seconds left on the clock in the second, Marian Gaborik recovered from hard hit and shot down the ice guns blazing to widen the Rangers lead 2-1.

The third period saw a lot of action in the Flyers net.

Wayne Simmonds scored for the Flyers with under a minute of play left in the third, but the Rangers were quick to answer back with a goal of their own by Michael Del Zotto, who has proven himself to be in the right spot at the right time this season.

Brandon Dubinsky, whose delay of game penalty was responsible for the power play that Simmonds scored on, redeemed himself with a picture perfect goal of his own at 12:15 in the third. Ruslan Fedetenko then scored an empty-netter to secure the win with under two minutes to play.

The Flyers had many power-play opportunities, as the penalties were piling up for the Rangers, but the Blueshirts only allowed one power-play goal and their PK remained as strong as ever.

Stu Bickel seemed to spend most of his time in the penalty box with two fighting majors and a minor, but in a postgame interview there were obviously no complaints by head coach, John Tortorella.

Bickel, however, was able to control himself from getting ejected by denying any attempts at a third fighting major, unlike Flyers' Tim Sestito who couldn't resist taking the bait and received a game misconduct for his three brawls.

Surprisingly, the Rangers lead the league in fighting majors, with the Flyers coming in at fifth. The only difference: The Rangers don't issue dirty hits like their Philly opponents.

Scott Hartnell was almost unnoticeable yesterday, whereas his teammate Zac Rinaldo was everywhere and anywhere, instigating and irritating on the ice.

The Rangers gear up for a busy week-and-a-half with five games in eight days.  They square off for their fifth time against the Broad Street Bullies in Philly on Saturday for, I'm sure, yet another battle of brawn.