Rangers burned by giveaways as Flames light them up 5-1 at the Garden

new york rangers
Oct 25, 2021; New York, New York, USA; New York Rangers left wing Alexis Lafrenière (13) talks with left wing Chris Kreider (20) and center Mika Zibanejad (93) during the second period against the Calgary Flames at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Danny Wild-USA TODAY Sports

The New York Rangers played their first game at Madison Square Garden in ten days. As the crowd roared from the start of the National Anthems it looked like they had some jump in their step.

That wouldn’t last long as they coughed up pucks and watched the Flames capitalize on their mistakes.

[brid autoplay=”true” video=”876008″ player=”25579″ title=”Spotlight%20Alexis%20Lafreniere” duration=”60″ description=”Alexis Lafrenière is one of the NY Rangers up and coming young stars heading into the 2021-22 season.” uploaddate=”2021-10-04″ thumbnailurl=”//cdn.brid.tv/live/partners/19073/thumb/876008_t_1633367694.png” contentUrl=”//cdn.brid.tv/live/partners/19073/sd/876008.mp4″]

Recap: Rangers vs Flames

The Rangers came out of the gate buzzing. Ryan Strome who missed the team’s 4-0-0 road trip due to COVID protocol looked fresh. That energy level took a hit when Ryan Reaves appeared to re-injure his left leg early in the first period. He tried testing it during a stoppage and was shaking his head before leaving the game.

Calgary started to come on getting several opportunities that Igor Shesterkin had to turn aside. Ryan Lindgren then took a shot off his ankle that sent him to the locker room with over 10 minutes left in the period. With the Rangers down two men, the Flames kept coming in waves. A big chance came off the stick of Matthew Tkachuk from the edge of the circle. Once again, Igor stood tall.

rangers vs flames
Danny Wild-USA TODAY Sports

New York’s defensive struggles started to really show. Late in the period, off a blown zone coverage, Sean Monahan was all alone in front. His point blank shot was stopped by Shesterkin. But when you keep playing with fire, you’re bound to get burned. On the Flames 15th shot of the period, Chris Tanev snuck in from the point to give his squad a hard earned 1-0 lead with 1:10 remaining.

The second period started with some good news as both Reaves and Lindgren were on the bench. It looked like it gave the Rangers a lift when Sammy Blais got robbed by Jacob Markstrom on the doorstep. That was followed by an awful turnover by Patrik Nemeth right on to the stick of Andrew Mangiapane, who sniped it home for a 2-0 margin just 2:09 into the middle stanza.

Mikael Backlund tripped Chris Kreider 3:45 in, but all you need to know is that Calgary got the only shot during the Rangers PP. Shockingly, the team started to build some momentum but Markstrom was up to the task and little lucky. A Panarin shot went off his shoulder and hit the crossbar to keep the Blueshirts off the board.

By the time period ended, the Rangers had several great chances including two by Trouba late. NY out shot Calgary 11-9 in the second and needed to carry that into the third.

And carry it they did.

The Blueshirts came out hard giving the defensively sound Flames all they could handle. It led to a power play when Oliver Kylington hooked Barclay Goodrow 3:20 into the period. Dryden Hunt would score just 5 seconds after the man advantage expired to cut the lead to 2-1. It was Hunt’s first goal and point as a Blueshirt with Miller and Trouba assisting.

Finally, the Garden had a reason to cheer but it didn’t last long. Blake Coleman nabbed his own rebound and lifted a backhand over the glove of Shesterkin to restore the two goal lead just 2:48 later. Backlund would end any Rangers idea of a comeback by beating Shesterkin with 8:28 left in the game. Mangiapane added a PP goal with 4.6 ticks on the clock to make it 5-1.

In the end, the Rangers turned over the puck 20 times to the Flames 5, and that showed in the final score.

“We didn’t play well tonight,” Trouba said after the game citing the turnovers. “We’ve got a couple of days in between. Regroup and worry about the next one on Friday.”

Notable Rangers

  • Igor Shesterkin was strong but the Flames had way too many high scoring chances, he made 32 saves
  • Ryan Reaves was on the bench but did not play after injuring his leg in the first period
  • Julien Gauthier led the team with 3 giveaways
  • Patrik Nemeth and Nils Lundkvist combined for a -4 rating
  • Artemi Panarin’s turnovers continue with two in this game

NHL Rumors

Tarasenko or Kessel: Who gets moved first? Read more here.

Anthony Scultore is the founder of Forever Blueshirts and has been covering the New York Rangers and the NHL... More about Anthony Scultore

Mentioned in this article::

More About: