PHILADELPHIA _ Gone were Dory, Hank the Octopus, and the rest of the "Follow Your Heart cast that was here for Disney On Ice, so the Flyers returned to the Wells Fargo Center on Wednesday for their first home game after the holidays.
And they watched Henrik Lundqvist look like the King of Goalies, as he usually does against the Flyers.
Lundqvist made 30 saves as the Rangers handed the free-falling Flyers their fifth straight defeat, 5-2.
The Flyers have lost seven of eight since their 10-game winning streak ended. In those eight games, they have scored a total of 12 goals.
Lundqvist is now 33-13-4 in his career against the Flyers.
The Flyers got to within 3-1 when Jake Voracek's power-play shot deflected into the net off the skate of the Rangers' Ryan McDonagh with 7 minutes, 28 seconds left.
But Kevin Hayes' goal, on yet another two-on-one by the Rangers, restored a three-goal lead with 5:45 to go. It was Hayes' second tally of the game.
Voracek's second goal of the night, a one-time tracer, cut the deficit to 4-2 with 2:52 left. The Rangers then iced it on Michael Grabner's empty-net tally with 2:15 remaining, securing the Blueshirts' fifth consecutive win over the Flyers.
New York, now 12-1-1 in games after a loss and 7-0 in the second part of back-to-back games, took a 2-0 lead on Chris Kreider's eighth goal in the last eight games. He scored off an odd-man rush with 14:59 remaining.
Defenseman Michael Del Zotto was caught up ice, leading to a Rangers' odd-man rush. Kreider's shot appeared to deflect off the stick of diving defenseman Radko Gudas and past Steve Mason with 14:59 remaining.
Michael Grabner, left alone in front, made it 3-0 with 8:47 left in a Ranger-dominated third period. It was just his second goal in the last 15 games.
Lundqvist was spectacular on the Flyers' first power play, making four high-quality saves in the opening period, including point-blank attempts by Voracek and Wayne Simmonds. He also stopped Simmonds on a short-handed breakaway in the first period.
The Rangers, playing their second game in as many nights, took a 1-0 lead against the fresher Flyers as Hayes scored his first goal in 13 games. A bad pinch by Flyers defenseman Brandon Manning in the offensive end enabled Hayes to skate from his own zone on a two on one, and he beat Mason on a backhand-forehand shot from in close with 17:52 left in the second.
A little over two minutes later, Lundqviust robbed Brayden Schenn. Twice. He stopped him from close range, then denied him on his rebound.
The Flyers fired 55 shots _ equaling a franchise record in a road game _ during Sunday's 4-3 shootout loss in Anaheim. Ducks goalie John Gibson stole two points for his team.
"We're coming off a good performance where we felt like we got back to a lot of things we want to do, but the reality is we only got one of the two points _ and points are at a premium," coach Dave Hakstol said before Wednesday's game. "We have to get after things tonight."
After the Rangers dominated the first half of the opening period, the Flyers took control and had the better scoring chances in the next 30 minutes.
But they couldn't solve Lundqvist, who has been having a very pedestrian season. He entered the game with 2.51 goals-against average and .912 save percentage, and he was coming off Tuesday's 4-1 loss to visiting Buffalo.
Down the other end, Mason looked fatigued while making his 22nd start in the last 24 games.
The Flyers started a stretch Wednesday in which they play 33 of their final 43 games against Eastern Conference opponents, including 23 against the suddenly powerful Metropolitan Division.
At this time of the season, the competitive level "goes to the next level and it still gets tougher later in the year," Hakstol said.
