Calgary Flames put up 51 shots, still lose 3-1 to New York Rangers

The Calgary Flames and New York Rangers meet for the second and final time this season. Let’s see how this game went down.

After losing two in a row, the Calgary Flames will try and get one back tonight against the New York Rangers. These two teams met three weeks ago where the Rangers took that one 4-3 with two goals in the third period.

In that game, Brett Kulak finally scored his first NHL goal and Curtis Lazar scored his first goal of the season.

Jon Gillies will get the nod tonight. He’s coming off his first ever NHL loss among his NHL starts against the Dallas Stars the other night where the Flames were shutout 2-0. We still don’t know when Mike Smith will return, but good news for Flames fans, he was taking shots from Flames goaltending coach Jordan Sigalet in practice lately. We could potentially see him back next week.

The Rangers are coming off a 6-5 win against the Vancouver Canucks after losing seven in a row. While Henrik Lundqvist (who turns 36 today) allowed five goals against, he also got a star of the game since he made 50 saves and set a career-high of saves in a game.

Nick Shore will be making his Flames debut since being acquired from the Ottawa Senators on trade deadline.

All this being said, let’s see how this game went down.

First period

The Calgary Flames got an early powerplay and while they didn’t score, they had some good lucks, especially from the second unit. They put up four shots on that PP. Shortly after, there was a faceoff in the Flames zone which Ryan Spooner won, got the puck to the net and Kevin Hayes snuck it past Jon Gillies. 1-0 Rangers.

Other than that goal, the Flames were playing quite a good game and were getting more of the chances, but Henrik Lundqvist was stopping everything.

Later in the period with less than four minutes to go, the Rangers made a poor line change which let the 3M line get in and get some shots. Lundqvist made two good saves but the third rebound went right to Brett Kulak who finally got one past Lundqvist. That’s just his second NHL goal. He really likes those Rangers, huh?

Late in the period with about 30 seconds left, the Flames were getting some quality chances in on Lundqvist again, but this period ended 1-1. Other than that Rangers goal, the Flames played a great period. They outshot the Rangers19-9, with 13 shots coming from different players, and had almost 30 shots attempts (5v5) compared to the Rangers’ 12. They also had 14 scoring chances (5v5) compared to the Rangers’ 5.

Let’s head to the second period.

Second period

Calgary Flames

Well… this was an intense opening minute of the period. Jon Gillies made a great save which led the puck to go the other way. Some great passing from the 3M line and Lundqvist made a highlight-reel save on Mikael Backlund. As the Calgary Flames were changing, the Rangers went the other way and Pavel Buchnevich snuck it past Gillies skate from beside the goal post. 2-1 Rangers early on.

Throughout the period, the Flames were getting chances after chances, but Lundqvist definitely brought his game again tonight. Halfway through the period (and game), the Flames already had 29 shots on goal. Gillies only faced 11 shots and after the puck hopped off Brodie’s stick weirdly, the Rangers got a two-on-one breakaway going the other way. After Gillies allowed two somewhat soft/weird goals, he came up huge with a save on that two-on-one. I guess this is that point of the game where Gillies starts to gain his confidence as the game goes on.

With a poor line change by the Flames and nobody noticing Spooner up ahead, he gets a slight breakaway and gets it past Gillies. It’s now a 3-1 game for the Rangers.

After this goal, it almost seemed like the Flames somewhat gave up. The second half of the period, the Rangers definitely had the edge. Backlund took a late penalty, so the Flames would start the third period on the PK.

The second period ended 3-1 for the Rangers with the Flames outshooting them 13-10. Let’s head to the final frame.

Third period

Like I mentioned, the Calgary Flames started the third period on the PK. The Rangers couldn’t quite get any quality scoring chances and the game would still be 3-1. Shortly after, the Flames got their chance on the powerplay, which they’re 0/2 so far in the game. And they’ll remain 0/3 with not being able to capitalize.

However, they kept the pressure once their PP ended and were getting some chances. But like I said earlier, Lundqvist brought his game today. The Flames recovered from their poor attempts in the second half of the second period but what more do we really need to say about this period?

They pushed hard especially in the second half of the period but Henrik Lundqvist stopped 50 of 51 shots. This is his second straight 50-save performance game. Happy Birthday to him I guess.

Next: Flames - Desperately needing a win

While they played a great game tonight, the Calgary Flames have now lost three in a row and their playoff hopes are slipping away. They could really use any sort of luck right now.