NEW YORK - With wins Saturday and Sunday, the Flyers could have climbed to the top of the Eastern Conference and Atlantic Division.
Instead, it turned into the Lost Weekend.
Left winger Artem Anisimov, who had been pointless in 17 straight games, had a goal and two assists as the first-place New York Rangers outlasted the Flyers, 5-2, in a physical, fight-filled game at Madison Square Garden.
Rangers all-star goalie Henrik Lundqvist made the big saves. Ilya Bryzgalov did not.
Coming off Saturday's 6-4 loss to New Jersey, the Flyers are as close to seventh-place Ottawa in the East as they are to first place. They are five points behind the Rangers, who have two games in hand.
On Saturday, the Flyers fell into a 6-0 hole. On Sunday, they trailed in the opening 64 seconds and didn't get a shot until 9:11 elapsed.
"I don't think we brought our 'A' game," said center Brayden Schenn, who scored the Flyers' first goal on a breakaway after he came out of the penalty box and took a feed from Jakub Voracek. "We've got to be way better than that. Four points were up for grabs and we got zero. It's definitely not what we were looking for."
The Flyers, who knotted the score at 2-2 in the opening minute of the third period, are 0-4 against the Rangers this season.
"It's frustrating. We've struggled against this team all year," winger Matt Read said. "We scored a goal to tie it up and a couple little mistakes end up in the back of our net."
"They're walking all over us right now," said winger Tom Sestito, who tried to ignite the Flyers with three fights. "We get to play them again soon, and we have to play the body and be physical - and down the road we'll see them in playoffs."
What has enabled the Rangers to dominate the series?
"The goalie," Flyers defenseman Kimmo Timonen shot back. "When they break down, their goalie makes the saves."
Against the Flyers this season, Lundqvist has all four wins, along with a 1.51 goals-against average and a .935 save percentage.
Bryzgalov is 0-2 with a 4.10 goals-against and .863 save percentage against the Rangers, while Sergei Bobrovsky is 0-2 with a 2.56 goals-against average and a .923 save percentage.
Just 36 seconds after Wayne Simmonds tied the game by knocking in his own rebound on the power play, the Rangers regained the lead at 3-2 with 18 minutes, 27 seconds left. Defenseman Michael Del Zotto scored on a one-timer from the left circle.
