The Rangers hot streak that came from the four wins on the road, comes to an end as the Calgary Flames burned the Rangers by a score of 5-1. What started out as a good game, quickly got out of the Rangers hands as the Flames took control and slowly built towards a strong, complete win. While the Rangers had the upper hand in the games physical aspect, it took a toll as Ryan Reaves and Ryan Lindgren both got banged up, Reaves more so than Lindgren. This on top of some bad turnovers and inability to clear the defensive zone, the Rangers were unable to generate much against the Flames, who extend their win streak to four games.
The Rangers got off to a much better start in this game and had a couple early chances, however, the tide would slowly turn. Once Calgary got settled in the offensive zone, they were extremely difficult to get the puck from let alone break the puck out. The Flames outshot the Rangers 15-7 in the first period, business as usual for Igor Shesterkin who was stopping everything thrown his way. Until the periods final two minutes when Christopher Tanev streaked into the Rangers zone and let a perfect shot go, beating Shesterkin glove side.
As the Rangers headed back out for period two, both injured Ryan's would join the team on the Rangers bench, however only one was good to play. Ryan Lindgren definitely didn't play as often as he would on a normal night but seemed to be okay after blocking that shot early in the first. Ryan Reaves, however, would not see another shift for the rest of the night, which speaks volumes to him as a player. (In a good way). Obviously depending on the injury, but had any other player gone down, they may have just got undressed and called it a night. However, since Reaves' injury wasn't detrimental, he remained on the bench as his presence alone is highly valued by this Rangers team. Two minutes in, it was Andrew Mangiapane scoring off a terrible Patrik Nemeth turnover that passed Shesterkin, 2-0 Calgary.
The Rangers usual problems consist of face-offs and converting on power plays, however tonight, a new problem was brought to attention, specifically on that second goal. The Blueshirts ended the night with 20 giveaways, while the Flames only had six. Nemeth's turnover on the Mangiapane was noticeably one of the worst ones that cost us most significantly, however you're not going to win many games turning the puck over that frequently. That being said, this is a bad habit the Rangers are going to want to drop immediately. On the plus side, the Rangers were 60.8% in face-offs last night, Ryan Strome playing a huge role in that.
Despite the turnovers, despite trailing in the game, even outshooting the Flames 11-10 in the second period, the Rangers kept fighting. A little over five minutes into the third, it was Kevin Rooney and or Dryden Hunt who finished off a scramble in front to bring the team within one. I say Rooney and or Hunt because Rooney is credited with the goal but I could've sworn it was Dryden Hunt's stick that was on the puck last when it went in. Nevertheless, there's no quit in New York and the Rangers were looking to come back in this game, at least for a couple minutes.
Blake Coleman would send a heck of a backhander passed Shesterkin on a rebound to put his team up by two once again. With the hopes of a comeback still alive, Mikael Backlund would score off a good shot about three minutes later to pretty much put this one to bed. Andrew Mangiapane would score with five seconds left in the game just to sprinkle some salt on the wound and almost as quickly as it started, the win streak is over.
There's not much to break apart on this game. The Rangers have to be better in the defensive zone and stop with the turnovers. Face-offs were better and the power play is always something to work on but aside from that, it was just one of those nights where the team couldn't get going and ran into pretty strong goaltending. They need more from their top guys and need things to click but the fact that through the first seven games of the season, the team was able to collect five points is something to be satisfied with. The Rangers have three days before they host the Blue Jackets in a game they'll most certainly want to get back on track in. The team is hopeful Kakko will be good to go for that game and as a fan, you have to hope this is the game where things start to click and the top guys start to explode offensively.
Chris Feldman
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