New York Rangers vs Calgary Flames: More defensive breakdowns in a 4-3 loss

The New York Rangers lost their second game in a row, allowing two breakaway goals in the first eight minutes.  They battled back, but ultimately lost 4-3.

Not only did the Calgary Flames get two breakaway goals, one of them was when the New York Rangers had  a two man advantage.  The good news is the power play scored twice to get the team right back into the game.

The mistakes the Rangers made were very costly.  The first three goals were the result of turnovers and the defense lost their assignments on the fourth and winning goal.    The Blueshirts never could get back into the game in the scoreless third penalty as they took three needless penalties.

It was a frustrating loss to a slumping Flames team made worse by the fact that Calgary was very effective at shutting down the Panarin and Zibanejad lines.

The shorthanded goal

Let’s talk about the shorthanded goal scored by the Flames.  Getting scored on when you have a two man advantage is probably one of the most embarrassing and rarest events in the NHL.  This was the first time this year that a team has been scored on while up two men.

But wait, it gets worse.  In the last 11 years, it has only happened nine times.   The NHL doesn’t even keep those stats from before 2009-10.   Mika Zibanejad put it best when asked about the shorthanded goal. He said “It shouldn’t  happen. It’s simple.  I don’t have any words for it…it’s unacceptable, it just cannot happen.”

Coach David Quinn said ” When you give up a five on three shorthanded goal, really that summarizes an awful lot.”

So, once again, this young hockey team dug itself a  hole and couldn’t climb out of it. The goals against average will continue to rise and the losses will continue to mount if this keeps up and we all know what that means.