3 Rangers takeaways from disappointing 3-2 loss to Flames
Igor Shesterkin gave the New York Rangers a chance to steal a win against the Calgary Flames at Scotiabank Saddledome on Thursday night. But despite his brilliant 46-save performance, the Rangers came up a goal short, losing 3-2.
Connor Zary’s tie-breaking goal midway through the third period broke a 2-2 tie as the Flames won their third in a row and ended New York’s three-game winning streak.
The 49 shots allowed and 46 saves by Shesterkin were season highs. Calgary outshot the Rangers 49-29, but a better indication of the play was the shot attempts – Calgary out-attempted New York 90-53. The first-period numbers were even worse – the Flames had a 20-5 edge in shots on goal and a 34-11 margin in attempts.
“They came out hard,” defenseman Ryan Lindgren said postgame. “They were all over us. They were forechecking us hard. We didn’t do a good job of getting the puck out, and when we did get it out, we weren’t getting it in. We were turning it over and they were coming right back at us.”
The Rangers trailed 2-0 before tying the game by scoring twice in 16 seconds late in the second period, with Alexis Lafreniere firing home a rebound at 16:37 and Will Cuylle tipping a shot by K’Andre Miller at 16:53. But those were the only shots to get past Flames goalie Dustin Wolf, who did his best work early in the third period when the Rangers generated a consistent attack for one of the few times all night.
“We fought, ended up tying it up, but didn’t get it done in the third,” Lindgren added.
But it was their play in the opening period, not the third, that left some Rangers shaking their heads.
“We weren’t doing anything right in the first period,” Cuylle said. “I thought we were pretty bad. They outplayed us all 20 minutes.”
The Rangers wrap up their four-game trip Saturday night in Edmonton against the Oilers before returning home to host the St. Louis Blues on Monday.
Related: Rangers injury update: Filip Chytil skates with extras in Calgary
3 takeaways from Rangers 3-2 road loss to Flames
Here are three takeaways from the game Thursday.
1. Shesterkin shines again
The Rangers gave their No. 1 goalie little help, and he still almost stole two points.
Calgary outshot the Rangers by 20 and out-attempted them by 37. The shots on goal were 32-8 at the first TV timeout in the second period, and the Flames outplayed New York for all but the last few minutes of the second period and the opening minutes of the third.
But Shesterkin’s superb play gave them an opportunity to win. Even after allowing Zary’s go-ahead goal, he kept it a one-shot game with a number of excellent stops.
“He was fantastic,” defenseman Jacob Trouba said. “He made a lot of big saves, especially in the first period. He was great throughout, and he gave us a chance.”
2. Another slow start
Were it not for Shesterkin, the Rangers would have been run out of the Saddledome early.
The Flames were all over the visitors in the opening period, outshooting them 20-5 and attempting 34 shots to 11. The Rangers generated nothing offensively and were on their heels. Per Natural Stat Trick, the Rangers had a pitiful 13.8 percent xGF.
“We got outworked,” an unhappy coach Peter Laviolette said. “They were better than us in the first.”
The Rangers really didn’t get going until late in the second period. They trailed 2-0 when the offense finally put some pressure on Wolf and got goals by Lafreniere and Cuylle to tie the score.
“I don’t think we ever got to our top game,” Trouba said. “We’d been playing pretty well on the road trip and we let one get away from us.”
3. Kakko looks comfortable in the middle
With No. 3 center Filip Chytil still out with an upper-body injury, Laviolette has been looking for a replacement. During the second period, he called on Kaapo Kakko, the regular right wing on the third line, to play in the middle.
Kakko played just 9:35 but looked comfortable after being put between Cuylle and Jimmy Vesey. His face-off win led to Cuylle’s game-tying goal, and he won six of his nine draws.
“It’s just something that we had talked about,” Laviolette said of moving Kakko to the middle. “The opportunity presented itself, so we went with it tonight. … He was good. He played center prior to getting to the NHL
“He’s pretty good in the face-off circle, and they produced a goal for us to tie the game.”
The move came at the expense of Jonny Brodzinski, who started at center on the third line but played only 7:58, and had only three short shifts in the third period.
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