Recap: Rangers Get Burnt In Calgary, Lose 3-2

Well, you can't expect to win a hockey game when you only show up for 15 of the 60 minutes and allow 50 shots on goal in the process. Despite a 16 second burst of offensive spark consisting of a pair of goals, the Rangers couldn't match the fire of the Flames which resulted in their first loss of the road trip. Some questionable calls made this a frustrating night for the Rangers but their lackluster play was just as disappointing.

1st Period:

It would become another slow start for the Rangers who were out-shot quite significantly through the first half of the opening period. The Panarin line had a real good chance on their first shift of the night as Artemiy Panarin fed Alexis Lafrenière with a perfect pass in front but missed the net just wide. Once the Rangers were finally credited with a shot on goal, the Flames had already registered six of their own with Igor Shesterkin playing sharp right out the gate. 

About seven and a half minutes in, the Rangers would again give up the first goal of the game. Matt Coronado let a perfect little snap shot go through a screen to beat Shesterkin up high to make it a 1-0 game. Nothing the Rangers netminder could do there as Braden Schneider was completely in his line of vision attempting to block the shot. 

As the period went on, the Rangers continued to see limited chances in the offensive zone with the Flames out-shooting them 10-4 through the first half of the period. With about six and a half to go in the period, Igor Shesterkin was called for the first penalty of the night as he got his stick tangled up in the skates of Connor Zary warranting two minutes for tripping. With Kaapo Kakko serving the penalty for Shesterkin, Mika Zibanejad blocked a Rasmus Andersson shot at the point and immediately skated to the Rangers bench, heading straight to the locker room. 

Definitely not good news for the Rangers but they would go on to kill off the entire penalty. About a minute later, another Rangers turnover created a chance for Andrei Kuzmenko on a partial breakaway that Shesterkin was able to shut down. However, in the midst of that scoring chance, Adam Edström was called for slashing which sent the Rangers right back to the penalty kill. Rinse, lather, repeat. 

While the Rangers continued to find success on the penalty kill, the Flames completely outplayed them which mixed with the penalties, really limited their opportunities. Igor Shesterkin was kept busy through an impressive period as he turned away all but one of twenty shots on goal from the Flames. That’s an average of a shot on goal every minute. Meanwhile, the Rangers finished the period with an average of a shot on goal every four minutes as they were credited with just five during the first twenty. 

2nd Period:

Good news to start the period as Mika Zibanejad was back on the ice to start the second. Especially with Filip Chytil still out of the lineup, the Rangers couldn’t afford to be short another center. The bad news, they were continuing to be seriously outplayed by Calgary who had well over 30 shots on goal prior to the midway point of the game. Reilly Smith had the Rangers best chance since that early shift from the second line as he ripped a shot off the post on the glove side of Dustin Wolf prior to a TV-timeout with roughly 14 minutes to go in the second. 

As play continued, Lafrenière had another grade-A chance on a point blank feed that required a fantastic save by Wolf. As play went the other way, Martin Pospisol nearly made it a 2-0 game as Shesterkin extended the leg to shut down a backhand chance on another partial break. Quite similar to the Edström penalty late in the first, Panarin was called for another slashing penalty. 

As Calgary headed to their third power play of the night, it wasn’t long before Yegor Sharangovich converted on a rocket of a one timer that beat Shesterkin up high. However, the Rangers opted to challenge the goal for a potential missed hand pass call prior to the goal. Upon further review, it was determined that the puck deflected off the glove and therefore the call on the ice stood. That goal counted and to top things off, the Rangers were now shorthanded for a fourth time. 

The Rangers were able to kill this one off but were now being out-shot 35-10 just one minute over the midway point of the game. For context, most teams only average around 30-shots on goal across an entire 60-minute effort. The way this game was going, the Rangers were in for a long night, specifically their goaltender. 

It took some time but the Rangers were finally beginning to show somewhat of an offensive spark. The Panarin line continued to be the only one that really had anything to show for in the offensive zone and after a great effort from Vincent Trocheck helped get the puck to Jacob Trouba at the point. His shot went off the pad of Wolf but came right out for Lafrenière to put home the rebound, cutting the lead in half 2-1. 

Just 16 seconds later, a shot from K’Andre Miller at the point took a redirect off of Will Cuylle which snuck through Wolf to make it a 2-2 game. In the blink of an eye, the Rangers turned a game they couldn’t look more disinterested in being a part of into a tied game after trailing by two. Cuylle now has four goals in his last seven games, six in his last eleven. 

Lost in all this excitement was a very interesting tweak to the Rangers lines. Kaapo Kakko, who has quietly been taking a good amount of face-offs and winning them, was taking shifts at center in between Cuylle and Jimmy Vesey. 

That would just about do it for the second save for a last minute effort from Reilly Smith and Chris Kreider on an odd-man rush that Kreider couldn’t quite get enough of. After 40 minutes of play, shots were 37-20 in favor of Calgary but the pair of goals from the Rangers completely changed the vibe of this game heading into the final period of regulation. Despite the wide margin in shots on goal, the Rangers were out-shooting Calgary 9-2 in the back half of the period while leading in the high danger count 6-2.

3rd Period:

Just over a minute into the third, the Rangers finally got their first chance at the power play as Sharangovich collided with Igor Shesterkin behind the net. While they wouldn’t convert on the man advantage, they certainly kept Dustin Wolf busy on the shifts that followed. The fourth line in particular had a really good sequence that gave the Rangers some really good chances to take the lead but Wolf did a great job of holding on. Meanwhile, Kaapo Kakko continued to win face-off after face-off making a great impression at center.  

During another TV-Timeout, Peter Laviolette had a lengthy conversation with one of the officials, presumably about hand passes as they were becoming quite the hot topic across this outing. On a following shift, the officials called another play dead for a handpass and all of a sudden Trocheck was sent off for unsportsmanlike conduct and the Rangers were short handed once again. It’s fair to assume Trocheck said something to the officials about the handpass call but thankfully, the Rangers were able to kill the penalty with relative ease. 

With the teams back to even strength just over the midway point of the period, a weird shot that may have deflected off of the defending stick of Kaapo Kakko sailed over the shoulder of Shesterkin. A good effort from Connor Zary to put himself in that situation to get the shot off but a tough break for the Rangers at this stage in the period. This would become the first goal against that Kakko and Cuylle were on the ice for across the first 18 games of the season. A wildly impressive start for that third line. 

Time was quickly becoming a concern as the Rangers were down by one. With about two and a half to go the Rangers pulled Shesterkin for the extra attacker but quickly returned him after Sharangovich nearly capitalized on the empty net. Once the Rangers regained the zone, Shesterkin was back to the bench. It would be a wild finish but the Rangers couldn’t hold onto the puck and would eventually run out of time. Certainly a winnable game but truthfully, the Rangers didn’t have much business being in it as much as they were given how they played for 90% of the game. 

Final tally for shots on goal came in just shy of 50 for Calgary as they drastically out-shot the Rangers 49-29. You could certainly make a case that the Rangers were gypped on a couple of calls but at the end of the day, this team wasn't anywhere near good enough as they were quite far from a complete sixty minute effort. They’ll have the chance to right the ship as they take on the Edmonton Oilers to close out the road trip Saturday Night at 10pm.