Rangers seven game win streak goes up in Flames in OT loss to Calgary.
Despite rallying following a third straight poor start, the New York Rangers couldn’t take their winning streak home with them, as the Calgary Flames stopped the wagon at seven with a 3-2 overtime victory north of the border on Saturday night. The Blueshirts, who will fly home having taken seven of a possible eight points on their week-long road trip, conceded two goals within the first 46 seconds of the game, before rallying to tie it and force the extra session, which extended their point streak to 10 consecutive contests. Here are my takeaways from the defeat.
FROM WIRED TO TIRED:
As euphoric as Friday’s 5-4 shootout victory at the Edmonton Oilers was, it pushed the Rangers’ legs to the limit, which showed less than a minute into Saturday’s contest in Calgary.
The Flames, seeking revenge for their chippy 5-4 overtime loss at Madison Square Garden 12 days prior, and trying to stop their struggles, struck first 38 seconds in, as Andrew Mangiapane blew by Jacob Trouba, outmuscled K’Andre Miller, and roofed the puck over Jaroslav Halak to give Calgary the first strike.
Then on the ensuing draw, a rare Adam Fox turnover was picked up by Jakob Pelletier, who fed Jonathan Huberdau before a drop pass turned into a Nazeem Kadri one-time blast, giving the Flames a 2-0 lead with two tallies in eight seconds.
Calgary would nearly triple their advantage a few minutes later when Mangiapane turned a Miler turnover into a breakaway chance but was stopped by Halak as part of a 29-save night.
As the period wore on, the Rangers eventually found their legs but were unable to pounce on a power play opportunity and were denied of a late marker when Fox, who was booed by the fans every time he touched the puck for not wanting to sign with Calgary after he was drafted in 2016, rang the crossbar. When the frame mercifully ended, the Rangers were charged with 13 turnovers, two winding up in the back of their net.
GALLANT’S NEW LINES WORK:
Seeking an offensive spark after seeing his team come up empty, despite a quality shorthanded net front look from Jimmy Vesey and a Vincent Trochek crossbar, accounting for the team’s third of the evening, Rangers coach Gerard Gallant decided it was time to break up the kid-line. The changes featured Kaapo Kakko receiving a promotion to the top line alongside Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad.
At the same time, Vesey was dropped to the fourth line with Julien Gauthier and Jake Leschyshyn. The new second line saw Vladimir Tarasenko reunited with Artemi Panarin and on opposite sides of Vincent Trocheck. At the same time, Alexis Lafreniere and Filip Chytil welcomed Barclay Goodrow to the third line.
As it would turn out, this Gallant shake-up came to fruition within minutes as at the 16:53 mark of the second, Panarin found Trochcek down low, and the center fed Tarasenko, who avenged his earlier altercation with the crossbar by sliding the disc past Markstrom to pull New York within one. It was Tarasenko’s second goal and third point as a Rangers since they acquired him from the ST Louis Blues last week and reignited his new team as they entered the final period of play.
The Rangers continued to press in the third and tied the score when Lafreniere snuck a power play chance across with 7:12 remaining in regulation. On the play, Chytil put it behind the net, where Trochek scooped it up and found the 21-year-old by the left dot, whose shot trickled past Markstrom and was pushed in by Blake Coleman, effectively forcing overtime.
A CONTROVERSIAL ENDING:
Before the bonus three-on-three frames began, Kadri was ejected for unsportsmanlike conduct as he bad-mouthed an official. Still, the Rangers didn’t receive a power play out of that, which they could’ve used when Fox was boxed for high-sticking 50 seconds into overtime.
Unlike the Oilers, who failed to capitalize on their overtime man-advantage opportunity against on Friday, eventually leading to a Rangers shootout win, the Flames wasted no time as Mikael Backlund tipped in Huberdau’s wrister, snapping the Rangers ‘ game heater, and with it, Halak’s seven-game win streak.
The loss, combined with New Jersey’s 6-2 win at the Pittsburg Penguins earlier in the day, puts the Rangers two points back of the Devils(36-14-5, 77 points) for second place in the Metropolitan Division and seven back of the Carolina Hurricanes(37-10-8, 82 points) who completed a three-game season series sweep of the Washington Capitals with an outdoor 4-1 victory in this year’s edition of the NHL’s Stadium series at North Carolina State university’s football field.
UP NEXT: The Rangers(33-14-9) will return to the friendly confines of Madison Square Garden on Monday night as the Winnipeg Jets(34-20-1) come to town. The teams last met on October 14th, where Connor Hellybuck made 40 saves in a 4-1 Jets victory and served New York’s first taste of defeat on the season.