PHILADELPHIA — Despite a COVID-19 outbreak that steadily crept through their locker room as they traveled from city to city, the Rangers got the best of their longest road trip of the season.

Scoring two goals in the third period to pull out a 3-2 win over the Flyers in an otherwise monotonous matchup, the depleted Rangers capped their 12-day, five-game stretch on the road with a gutsy effort Saturday night in front of a stiff, lifeless crowd of 18,293 at Wells Fargo Center.

The victory lifted the Rangers back into first place in the Metropolitan Division, while they handed the Flyers their seventh straight loss.

Facing the top four teams in the Pacific Division before taking on the Flyers, the Blueshirts emerged with a 3-2 record that they can hang their hats on as the halfway point in the 2021-22 season approaches.

“The resilience of this group,” said defenseman Adam Fox, who assisted on Chris Kreider’s game-winner, which improved the Rangers’ record to 25-10-4. “I think we have a lot of trust in everyone that’s playing. Whether someone gets called up, someone goes down with COVID, it’s that kind of year. You can’t really dwell on losing a guy, I think you’ve got to respond.

“This road trip, it seemed like we were losing a guy each day. I think we responded well to that, just a nice way to end the road trip.”

Following an uneventful second period, in which the Flyers dialed up the physicality and out-hit the Rangers 16-3, the score was tied at one. Neither team could get a hold on the game until well into the third.

Philadelphia pulled ahead off a slap shot from Cam York at 10:11 of the third period. That was when the Rangers woke up.

Just 37 seconds later, the Rangers jumped out on an odd-man rush and Artemi Panarin found Filip Chytil for the 2-2 score at 10:48. Chris Kreider then deflected a shot from Fox past Flyers goalie Carter Hart at 13:30 to seal the victory.

“When you’re out with him, try to get it to the area and his stick usually finds the puck,” Fox said of Kreider, who is now tied with Maple Leafs star Auston Matthews for the third-most goals in the NHL.

The Rangers regained some size and strength in their bottom six with the return of Ryan Reaves and Julien Gauthier, who both missed the previous three games while in COVID-19 protocol. Head coach Gerard Gallant was also back behind the bench following his two-game absence due to a positive test.

Still, the Rangers’ last two lines were filled out with players who have primarily played in AHL Hartford this season: Tim Gettinger and Morgan Barron. With forwards Alexis Lafreniere and Barclay Goodrow still in protocol, the Rangers have gotten an extended look at their depth up front.

“We talked about it, to come out of this trip over .500 would be real good,” Gallant said. “You always want to win every game you play, but there was a lot going on for our team — more so than any other time this year. It just seemed like it was one guy every day.

“But they battled, they found a way. The guys that are on the taxi squad, they got called up and played great hockey for us.”