New York Rangers West Coast Ends Poorly

Dec 12, 2015; Calgary, Alberta, CAN; Calgary Flames left wing Johnny Gaudreau (13) is stopped by New York Rangers goalie Antti Raanta (32) in overtime at Scotiabank Saddledome. Flames won 5-4 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Candice Ward-USA TODAY Sports

The New York Rangers had been sliding a bit heading into their Pacific Division road swing and were looking to build some momentum with a good road trip.

Unfortunately for the Rangers, they just haven’t been up to the task, dropping their third game in three tries on the trip with a frantic 5-4 loss to the Calgary Flames.

The Rangers would have the type of first period they typically like (see: low-scoring, close affairs), with J.T. Miller’s fifth goal of the season being the only one of the period to send the Blueshirts into the dressing room with the lead.

The second period was actually going just fine and with less than three minutes to go in the period, it looked like the Rangers would take that 1-0 lead into the locker room after 40 minutes. But just :17 apart, Johnny Gaudreau and Mason Raymond would give the Flames the surprising lead.

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In the first five minutes of the third period, it seemed like things were starting to come unglued for the Rangers. Gaudreau’s second of the night just 2:32 in would give the Flames a two-goal lead and Joe Colborne would up that to three goals just a few minutes later.

It would have been easy for the Rangers to just call it a night right there, but the Rangers showed a ton of guts by simply continuing to give it their all.

Tanner Glass would respond just :16 later to cut the lead to two and ten minutes later, Dan Boyle would cut that to just one.

With just 1:12 left and the man-advantage, the mighty midget Mats Zuccarello would bury the game-tying goal and cap the comeback. All of the momentum had somehow shifted to the side of the Rangers and it looked as though the nightmares of the previous two games would be erased.

Unfortunately, just two minutes into the overtime session, Flames defenseman TJ Brodie would squash the comeback and give the Flames the 5-4 win in overtime.

The Rangers have now dropped all three of their Pacific Division road games, sending them to an atrocious 2-6-2 record over their last 10 games.

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There certainly is cause for concern right now given how the defense has played in the absence of Kevin Klein, but for all the negatives, the Rangers still sit just two points out in the race for the Metropolitan Division and have the roster to put together an extended run of success.

Right now, they just need to settle things down, get back to the basics and try to right the ship defensively. The goals will come and, on most nights, they still have Henrik Lundqvist backing them up. When Klein and Derek Stepan return from injury, they’ll truly have no excuse to keep sliding.

For now, it’s time to brush themselves off and prepare for a rematch with the Oilers back in the friendly confines of Madison Square Garden.

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