Pavel Dorofeyev earns first big Rangers moment with key goal in win

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Pavel Dorofeyev earns first big Rangers moment with key goal in win

An image collage containing 2 images, Image 1 shows Pavel Dorofeyev (16, left) celebrates with teammates after scoring the game-tying in the third period of the Rangers' 3-2 win over the Flyers on Nov. 4, 2026 at the Garden, Image 2 shows Tye Kartye celebrates after scoring the game-winning goal in the Rangers' comeback win over the Flyers.

Mollie Walker · NY Post Sports

Fri, November 6, 2026 at 3:07 AM UTC ·

4 min read

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The subtle double-fisted flex Pavel Dorofeyev made after scoring the Rangers' game-tying power-play goal Thursday night said it all.

Not only did the Blueshirts need it to eventually pull out a 3-2 win over the Flyers at Madison Square Garden, Dorofeyev needed his first big Rangers moment to muffle the concerns that have stemmed from his snakebitten play through his first 17 games as a Blueshirt.

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"It obviously helps," the Russian wing said after the win, which was secured by Tye Kartye's bullet shot off the rush with 4:39 left in regulation. "I just gotta keep focusing on my game, trying again and again. Hopefully, it's going to come, like post and in, at some point."

It's a good sign that Dorofeyev, who added a smile at the end of his remarks, can poke fun at the fact that he leads the NHL in posts/crossbars hit with seven.

Aside from the situation in goal, the first five and a half weeks of this season have been consumed by figuring out where the 26-year-old fits best in the Rangers lineup. Head coach Mike Sullivan has run through numerous forward combinations to try to shake things up to help Dorofeyev start connecting on the abundance of scoring chances he's generated.

Pavel Dorofeyev (16, left) celebrates with teammates after scoring the game-tying in the third period of the Rangers' 3-2 win over the Flyers on Nov. 4, 2026 at the Garden. Jason Szenes for New York Post

Sullivan even turned to former Rangers coach John Tortorella, who had Dorofeyev in Vegas last season.

"He's tried to offer me some insight on some of the things that he did when he was coaching him that he felt helped Pav move in the right direction," Sullivan said of his "multiple" conversations with Tortorella. "I'm trying to utilize some of those insights, and it's a work in progress. My experience has been, when a player changes teams like that, signs a fairly decent contract, sometimes there's a little bit of an adjustment process that players go through. … I think Pav is going through that process with us right now, trying to figure out we're a different team than what he was on. He's playing with different players."

Tye Kartye celebrates after scoring the game-winning goal in the Rangers' comeback win over the Flyers. Jason Szenes for New York Post

Dylan Garand makes one of his 23 saves during the Rangers' win over the Flyers. Jason Szenes for New York Post

Thursday counted as the Rangers' first comeback win of the season, and they were the last team in the NHL to record one. Playing with leads has been a strength of this Rangers team to start this campaign, but climbing out of any hole has been a lofty task.

The Rangers broke that trend Thursday night and improved to 9-1 when scoring the first goal of the game.

In their third straight game without Sean Durzi, who was placed on injured reserve with a lower-body injury before puck drop, the Rangers defense gave up few grade-A opportunities in the first period to make life a little easier on rookie goalie Dylan Garand in his 12th consecutive game.

J.T. Miller helped get the Rangers on the board less than five minutes into the game when the captain got a stick on a Marcus Pettersson shot and the puck ricocheted in off Gabe Perreault.

Once the home team's energy waned, however, the Flyers were opportunistic with what was given.

With Noah Cates screening in front, Simon Benoit's shot from the blue line beat Garand above his right shoulder. Swarming the Rangers net just under two minutes later, Noel Acciari tapped in a turnaround feed from Denver Barkey to give his team its first lead of the night.

"We started on time today," Dorofeyev said. "Game slipped [away] in the second, but then we regrouped after second and dug in there and came back in the game."

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