Rangers 4, Flames 3 post-game embers: Needed more even strength

There’s something to be said for playing in back-to-back games, but it’s also fair to expect a little more (especially when, the night before, the Flames quit for an entire period beforehand). They’ve now won four of the eight second half games they’ve played so far this season. It could have been five.

It’s a miracle the Flames exited the first period tied; they didn’t look like they had any interest in being there at all. You would have hoped that, given all the warning they had in the first to maybe get it together, they would have been able to do something with that.

And they did, kind of. The Flames took the lead in the second period, and entered the third just having to, at minimum, maintain that. And to their credit, their third period wasn’t as bad as it was against the Devils – but probably because they surrendered the lead, and were forced to frantically try to tie the game back up.

The Flames having a lead and then getting scored on keeps happening. Against the Blackhawks, they took a very late lead – and surrendered a goal within the final 10 seconds anyway, saved by the empty net goal they managed to score earlier. Against the Devils, they had a two-goal lead and then quit playing, hanging on by the skin of their teeth for a one-goal win. And against the Rangers, they had a one-goal lead – and it wasn’t enough.

Frantically trying to tie the game after surrendering the lead isn’t good enough. The Flames had eight corsi events for in the third until they surrendered the lead; in the final seven minutes of the period, after, they had 12.

The Flames took five penalties, which is entirely too many to take. Now, three of those penalties came during that horrid first period, but taking any more after that was just tempting fate and, well… Sam Bennett is just not having a good season. It took him 16 games to even get a point, and by then he’d already picked up 16 penalty minutes. It’s not fair to blame it all on him – four others were called for penalties – but the other four have contributed. Like, offensively.

Travis Hamonic was asked to do the most with 4:59 shorthanded minutes played; Mark Giordano second, with 4:00. Michael Frolik, T.J. Brodie, Michael Stone, Mikael Backlund, and Matt Stajan all played over three minutes, as well, while the aforementioned Bennett had 2:32. Only six Flames didn’t see any shorthanded ice time: the entire top line, Matthew Tkachuk, Ryan Lomberg, and Dougie Hamilton.

On the flip side of things, the Flames had six powerplays with which to work, including a game-ending one. And something very different happened: they scored a goal. And they scored a goal because, in part, Hamilton was actually on the first unit.

A miracle, right? Just a shame it couldn’t have translated to more. The powerplay is still comfortably among the worst in the NHL.

With Troy Brouwer unavailable, and Kris Versteeg very unavailable, the Flames were short on right shots. If the powerplay seriously needs one, then there was pretty much only one option: Hamilton.

He played 8:52 on the powerplay and had six shots on net throughout the night. Though they only had the one goal to show for it, Hamilton made the man advantage actually look threatening at times. Going one-for-six isn’t an improvement – the powerplay isn’t that hopeless (yet, it’s getting there) – but it sure felt like one, so hopefully this will lead to more Hamilton in future games, even when the other right shots make their returns.

Giordano and Hamilton were top in ice time – in both all situations and even strength – as it should be. It didn’t work out this time, but more often than not, it likely will.

Other huge minute getters on the man advantage: Giordano, with 8:20; Johnny Gaudreau, with 7:47; Sean Monahan, with 7:37; and Matthew Tkachuk, with 7:28. All five of these players can score. One of them is literally tied for second in league-wide scoring. Tkachuk is the only one of the five to have never had a 50-point season and that’s only because it’s literally only his second NHL season (and he had 48 points in his first one, so). All five of these guys can score. It’s just… I’d just hope they stick with this. At some point it has to break through. There’s too much offensive talent there for it to not.

Something that was nice, out of this one: all the feel good stuff that came before the third period fold. Brett Kulak has been fighting for so long – 74 games, in fact – for a goal, and the sheer excitement he exhibited when that puck went in was cathartic, even for someone not personally involved (i.e. the audience). He earned it.

Curtis Lazar finally got his first goal of the season, as well (and after getting one taken away! I don’t think the goal that was ruled goaltender interference should have happened anyway – the whistle should have probably gone earlier, at least – but that was a nice bit of redemption. And with it, Ryan Lomberg got his first NHL point.

All of the penalties skewed ice time, but then, Lomberg only played 6:21. Lazar scored the 14th goal of his NHL career in 220 games. Kulak has been solid as a sixth guy, but he only has eight career points. (That one is fine, though, since really all he has to do is be competent, and most nights he is. It might be of more concern that he’s outscoring Michael Stone this season, with five points to four.)

With Brouwer’s injury, Garnet Hathaway replaced him on the third line; Hathaway is not a third liner. Mark Jankowski only played 9:27. Bennett is still not living up to that fourth overall billing.

Versteeg’s return should help things out, but remember that he’ll have to get up to game speed, as well. Brouwer is likely a better option to have in the bottom six regularly over some other players, cap hit be damned. But is that really enough? Do the Flames have time to wait for Bennett and/or Jankowski to get it together on the regular? Bennett is in his third season so the clock is ticking much louder for him than it is for Jankowski, but rookie status doesn’t do much to soothe immediate, realistic fears of missing the playoffs.