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.

The game

The key question was how long it would take for the Flames to get on the scoreboard after the Rangers gave up early goals to Edmonton and it didn’t take long, only four minutes and 15 seconds.

Of course it was was classic defensive breakdown that led to a breakaway.  Probably the last person you would want to see get a breakaway is Johnny Gaudreau and sure enough he broke in and beat Lundqvist.

The irony is that the Rangers had the puck deep in the Calgary zone, but it was a bad pass by Artemi Panarin to

Jacob Trouba

at the point that led to Gaudreau’s break.

Things were looking up when the Rangers drew two penalties on Calgary, resulting in five on three advantage for a full 1:11.  So what happens?

For a full 20 seconds the Rangers played catch with the puck, looking for the perfect pass. Then, with all five Blueshirts past the hashmarks in the offensive zone, Anthony DeAngelo tried to hit Panarin for a one timer, only Michael Backlund intercepted the cross ice pass and had a clean breakaway to beat Lundqvist.

The only good thing was that the Rangers had a full 44 seconds of the two man advantage left and they made Calgary pay when Jacob Trouba fired home a shot from the faceoff circle.

25 seconds later and still on the power play, the Rangers tied the score.  It was the second power play unit on the ice when Kaapo Kakko took the shot.  Cam Talbot made the save, but it popped into the air and Filip Chytil was able to bat it in.

Five minutes later the Flames took the lead back on a Derek Ryan goal that was nothing but bad luck for the Rangers.  First, Brady Skjei had the puck deep in the Rangers end and gave it away.  To make matters worse, Derek Ryan took a shot that was destined to miss the net by five feet, but it glanced off Skjei’s skate and right into the net.

In the second period, it was the Rangers’ turn to tie the score when Kaapo Kakko took a shot from near the blue line that eluded everyone for his first goal in 20 games.

That was it for the good news for the Rangers.  Three minutes later at 8:22, Sean Monahan finished off a fantastic passing sequence to score from the slot. This wasn’t an absolute breakdown of the Rangers defense, but they did allow the Flames to walk into the zone unimpeded.

The game got a lot tighter after that and the Rangers were hard pressed to generate any offense. In fact, they were able to muster only nine shots on goal in the third period, not helped at all by the three penalties.  Chris Kreider took a clear tripping penalty while Brady Skjei was caught with a high stick and Kaapo Kakko was called for holding  Rasmus Andersson when going for the puck in the offensive zone.

Quinn was clearly perturbed by the penalties.  Skjei didn’t see the ice at all after his penalty, a period of over 14 minutes. Kakko saw only two shifts after his penalty at the 52 minute mark.  Only Kreider’s ice time didn’t suffer after he took his tripping penalty to start the third period.

Statistically, the game was fairly even. Calgary outshot the Rangers 29-27, but were close in hits and blocked shots.  For the second game in a row, the Rangers won the faceoff battle 26-22.

They have now allowed 15 goals on this three game road trip and it was the 11th straight game that they have allowed three or more goals. It seems that every brutal mistake results in a goal against and that is a trend that needs to be reversed sooner than later.

This game was also an example of what happens when the Rangers’ top two lines are shut down.

Notes on the game

• After the game, the Rangers veterans were clearly upset about the defensive breakdowns.  Marc Staal put it best: “We need to play a better defense. We’re giving up too many goals.  You can’t score five goals every game and expect to win like that.”
• Quinn said that he was encouraged by the play of the Chytil line with Kakko and Brett Howden and he also singled out the fourth line of Brendan Smith, Greg McKegg and Steven Fogarty. He has a strange way of showing it by giving Fogarty just over five minutes of ice time and benching Kakko for extended stretches in the third period.
• Adam Fox was booed every time he touched the puck.  Apparently Calgary fans have a long memory and remember that he made it clear he wouldn’t sign with the team after he was drafted.  He responded with an outstanding game and three assists.
• This was only the sixth game this season that both Zibanejad and Panarin were held scoreless in the same game.  They’ve lost them all.
• The Rangers were able to keep their nemesis Matthew Tkachuk off the scoreboard.
• New Jersey native Johnny  Gaudreau had a goal and an assist and now has six goals and 11 points in 11 games against the Blueshirts.
• Kaapo Kakko’s goal was his first in 20 games and the first time he has had two points in a game since November 20.
• Jacob Trouba scored a power play goal and had seven shots on goal while leading the team with over 24 minutes of ice time.
• Adam Fox is creeping up the rookie scoring standings.  His 22 points are sixth among rookies and third among rookie defensemen.  Cale Makar leads with 29 and Quinn Hughes is second with 28 points.  He is fourth in assists among rookies.  Fox is tied with Kakko for fourth place among rookies with ten power play points.