Post-Game: Missed opportunities in Manhattan

Let’s be blunt here: afternoon games aren’t usually that good. It’s obvious watching them that both teams are out of their comfort zones, having their usual routines knocked off-kilter by a strange start time. The Calgary Flames had a nice opportunity to capture some points this afternoon against a New York Rangers team that wasn’t its usual scary self.

However, the Flames blew a first period lead and then trailed much of the rest of the way, primarily on the back of a few costly unforced errors in their own end. They dropped a 4-3 afternoon decision to the Rangers.

The first period was quite disjointed, with each team seemingly tripping over themselves in the neutral zone. That meant shots and chances were at a premium. The Flames managed to open the scoring on the power play. Henrik Lundqvist tried to clear the puck out of his zone after a dump-in, but Matthew Tkachuk held it in and served it up for a Dougie Hamilton point shot to make it 1-0 after a deflection off a defender.

The lead didn’t last, though, as the Rangers connected on their own power play. Brian Elliott made a nice save on an initial shot by Derek Stepan, but Rick Nash was left wide open at the side of the net to tap in the rebound and tie the game at 1-1. (Remember the phrase “left wide open” because it’ll come up again.) Shots were 15-13 Rangers in the opening frame.

Neither side scored in the second period. The Flames had more jump than they had in the first period, but they couldn’t bury anything. The period itself wasn’t all that entertaining as a result, as neither side really generated much in the way of nice scoring chances. Shots were 8-6 Calgary. The Rangers did beat Elliott at the very end of the period, but it was judged to have been ever-so-slightly after the final horn.

The Rangers kept pressing as the third period began, overrunning the third line (Kris Versteeg, Alex Chiasson and Sam Bennett) early in the period. The Flames lost track of their coverage a bit and that allowed Michael Grabner to score off a one-timer to make it 2-1 – literally every Flames player was on the other half of the zone, leaving Grabner wide open. The top line answered back for the Flames shortly afterwards though; a Johnny Gaudreau shot was blocked, but careened right to Troy Brouwer for a tap in to make it 2-2.

But shortly after that goal, Versteeg was thrown out of the game after a fight with Pavel Buchnevich because his jersey wasn’t tied down. Shortly after that penalty shortened Calgary’s bench, Chris Kreider beat Brian Elliott with a wrister from the top of the circles – a goal Elliott probably wants back – to make it 3-2. Later in the period the Rangers made it 4-2 off another scrambley defensive zone shift that allowed Jesper Fast plenty of time and space to tuck the puck past Elliott.

The Flames answered back, though; Mikael Backlund grabbed an errant Rangers pass and his wrister was redirected by Tkachuk past Lundqvist to make it 4-3.

That’s as close as Calgary got, though. Shots were 11-11 in the final 20 minutes.

They just weren’t quite good enough in their own end. They allowed three goals where the guy who scored was left all alone in front. And on the other goal, Dennis Wideman kept backing up and allowed Kreider to get a shot away rather than going after him and eliminating the lane.

The Flames had plenty of pep in their step, particularly in the final two periods, but the Rangers were the better team defensively – despite having two big giveaways lead to goals on their side – and that was enough for them to capture two points.

The Versteeg-Bennett-Chiasson line was buzzing for two periods but couldn’t find the back of the net. They were caught flat-footed on the second Rangers goal, but the Flames were really hurt by Versteeg getting the game misconduct in the third. His absence made the Flames that much shallower and easier to match up against as the Rangers clung to their lead.

The 3M Line were all good today after a few games of unspectacular play. All three deserve praise.

Honourable mention to young Dougie Hamilton, who was easily Calgary’s best blueliner on this occasion.

The Flames haven’t won in Madison Square Garden since 2008.

The Flames (27-25-3) are back at it on Tuesday night when they head to Pittsburgh to face the Penguins.

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