Turnovers Burn Rangers In Loss To Flames
After Tuesday night’s wild game in Edmonton, the Rangers headed south on Highway 2 for their tilt with the Calgary Flames. Although it wasn’t as wild as the 7-5 loss to the Oilers, the Rangers would wind up on the losing end of a 4-3 scoreline.
Jacob Trouba – He scored his first goal in almost a month, and it got the Rangers on the board in the first period. With the Blueshirts trailing 2-0 and having a two-man advantage, Jacob Trouba hammered a slap shot behind former Ranger Cam Talbot to cut the deficit in half.
Trouba played 24:18 and led the Rangers with seven shots on net. His shoot-first mentality is something that needs to rub off on the rest of the team.
Filip Chytil – The 20-year-old tied the game in the first period with his 10th tally of the year. After Kaapo Kakko’s shot was stopped by Talbot, Chytil knocked the rebound out of midair and into the net.
Chytil has had a solid season since being called up from Hartford at the end of October, recording 14 points (10G, 4A) in 30 games.
Kaapo Kakko– It’d been 20 games since the Finn’s last goal, but Kakko finally got that proverbial monkey off his back, scoring the seventh goal of his rookie season. With the line of Howden-Chytil-Kakko having sustained zone time, Kakko’s shot from inside the blue line deflected off the Calgary defender and into the net.
After the goal, you could tell that Kakko’s confidence started coming back, as he was more energetic for the remainder of his shifts. Hopefully, we’ll see his confidence continue improving game after game.
Control The Puck – Perhaps the biggest reason the Rangers lost this game was early turnovers. Johnny Gaudreau’s goal came on an errant pass to the point, and Backlund’s breakaway goal came with the Rangers overpassing on a 5v3 advantage. The third Calgary goal came on a Brady Skjei breakout pass that was knocked down by Dillon Dube and finished by Derek Ryan. Three bad giveaways ultimately cost the Rangers in this one, and if they aren’t going to take care of the puck, they won’t win many games.
Next Game: The Rangers will try and salvage the final game of their trip through Western Canada on Saturday night when they face the Canucks at Rogers Arena. Puck drops at 10!
LETS GO RANGERS!!
More About:NYR Features Blueshirts GameDay