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It was Hayes, Sanheim time as Flyers overwhelm Rangers

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After being down a goal in the second period, the Flyers ride a four-goal third period to beat the Rangers 5-1.

Kevin Hayes and Travis Sanheim enjoyed quite the time as the Flyers beat the Rangers 5-1 on Monday.

The two teams entered the second intermission tied 1-1 thanks to Sanheim scoring with just two seconds left. With that, the Flyers extended their winning streak to four games, and they climbed to third in the Metro.

Philly rattled off four third-period goals to turn a goalie duel into a laugher.

Kevin Hayes heating up

Hayes generated 20 points through his first 36 games with the Flyers, which seems ... fine. Fans obsessing over Hayes’ $7.14M cap hit are unlikely to be satisfied with a player whose career-high is 55 points.

Hayes looks better the deeper you delve into numbers, though. Although Hayes slipped a bit compared to his contract year, metrics like his HockeyViz heat map impress:

hayesheat

Hayes has been heating up lately, though, and it had to be satisfying to score two goals against his former team. By scoring twice, Hayes pushed his point streak to three games (3G, 2A) and also has seven points in his last five.

Each goal could land on highlight reels, with his first being the game-winner:

Sanheim time

Like Hayes, Sanheim would like to rekindle some of last season’s magic, as his 2019-20 has been a bit of a setback.

The promising defenseman found a way to be at the right place at the right time twice. His first goal screamed right time in a literal way, as he scored with less than two seconds left in the second period.

Sanheim also put himself in the right place at the right time for his second goal as the Flyers created havoc in front of Henrik Lundqvist. While neither Sanheim nor Hayes managed a hat trick, the fifth goal of the night was special, as Nicolas Aubé-Kubel notched his first NHL goal.

Again, the Rangers stuck with the Flyers for most of Monday. Perhaps Philly can point to this as the sort of game that can remind them of the considerable firepower they have on hand?

James O’Brien is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @cyclelikesedins.