First Star of the Game with 2 Goals Sean Avery Leads Rangers in "Philly-Buster"

The first star of the game with two goals, an assist, and a penalty for fighting (also known as a "Gordie Howe Hat-Trick"), as well as four big hits, Sean Avery led the New York Rangers to revenge over the Philadelphia Flyers with a 4-1 victory at Madison Square Garden.

Avery got the last goal in yesterday's game against the Flyers, which Philly won, and the first in the grudge match today. He got the insurance goal, too, to put the game out of reach.

And although he did not get credited with an assist, he initiated the play that saw the puck go to Wade Redden, Derek Morris, and back to Avery for the score. Consider it an unofficial dime; it made the score 1-0 for the Rangers.

Just before the goal, Avery drew a penalty by playing it smart when two Flyers roughed him up in front of their net, pulling his helmet off and pushing him. Instead of retaliating, Avery backed off a bit, and as the Rangers went on a power play with the man advantage, Avery got the first goal of the game.

Drury hit the post on the power play. NBC's "Star Cam" followed Avery all over the place, including his exit behind Orr.

In the second period, Avery fell on the Flyers goalie, who shoved him off. Guess who got the penalty?

At this stage in the game, Avery was presumed guilty by all on-ice officials, apparently. He threw up his arms in frustration, but then skated to the penalty box without verbally abusing the ref.

The other new Ranger, Nik Antropov, got the second goal. "Big Nik" scored to make it 2-1, Rangers. That was their second power play goal; that has to be seen as a good sign, as the Rangers' power play has been bad this year.

The Flyers goal, by Simon Gagne, was also on the power play.

At the end of the second period, Avery almost tipped in another Rangers shot from the blueline. The Flyers showed their frustration by taking penalties.

Later, Avery's second goal put the game out of reach for the Flyers and he made it look easy, scoring with one hand on his stick as the puck squirted across the crease, in front of an open net, with the goalie going the other way.

Fredrik Sjostrom scored in the third period for the final Rangers goal, and it was all over except for the awarding of the three stars, with the first one going to Avery.

Avery drew a pair of penalties. He wrestled with the Flyers’ Jeff Carter and jawed pointedly with Mike Richards, the Flyers’ captain, for elbowing Brandon Dubinsky in the head. It was Avery's best game so far since returning to Broadway after the Rangers picked him off waivers from the Dallas Stars on March 3. He has 5 points in six games with the Rangers this season.

It was widely reported that Flyers coach John Stevens, said, “[Avery’s] back to his old antics and we got sucked in to be quite honest with you. We started worrying about him instead of playing the game.”

As the clock ticked down, the crowd at the Garden chanted Avery’s name. They roared when he was announced as the first star of the game.

But did he gloat, did he showboat, or did he give anyone reason to doubt he is a changed man in his return to the NHL?

No. Helmet off, he did a short skate to the gate, gave 18,200 adoring fans a quick wave or half-salute, and hurried back to the locker room to rejoin his team.

Antropov now has three goals in six games since being acquired from Toronto at the trade deadline, and Avery has four goals and an assist since being signed. Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist had another strong game, this coming just shortly after his historic 30th win for the fourth year in a row since joining the NHL. 

The Rangers' win gave them two big points and sees them leapfrog the Carolina Hurricanes. Coming from the eighth and final Playoff spot, they're now in a three-way tie with Montreal and Pittsburgh for fifth place.

Montreal is next for the Rangers as they play in Quebec on Tuesday. Both teams have 80 points, but the Rangers are on their way up, and the Canadiens are going down.