Although the New York Rangers defeated their old Winter Classic rivals, the Philadelphia Flyers, 2-1 Tuesday night, head coach John Tortorella was not impressed by a costly misplay by one of his players in the third period.
Ticked off by winger Carl Hagelin’s contribution to New York’s too-many-men-on-the-ice penalty, which resulted in a Kimmo Timonen power-play goal that squashed Henrik Lundqvist’s shutout bid 7:09 into the third, Tortorella was frank about the mistake in his postgame press conference.
“I focus on the dumbness of Hagelin,” said Tortorella of Carl Hagelin. “He played a hell of a game, but that’s all washed off from dumbness.”
Hagelin, a 24-year-old NHL sophomore, has yet to score a point this season despite registering 16 shots in six games. He had 38 points in 64 games as a Rangers rookie last season.
Watch: John Tortorella’s full postgame press conference
Watch: Hagelin is stoned by Ilya Bryzgalov in the game’s final minute