Rangers Douse Flames 5-2 for 4th Straight Win

Playing their third game in four nights the Rangers flew past the Calgary Flames – bombing them for 5 goals and completing a sweep of their three game western road swing.

The first period featured a pair of unusual unassisted Ranger scores.

After a series of Ranger breakaways that netted nothing (three in the first minute) – followed by a shorthanded flurry by the Flames that had them dominating the Rangers despite the extra skater - New York finally cashed in on a puck that traveled nearly half way around the rink on the boards.  It started as a dump into the Ranger zone on a line change.  Calgary shot the puck around the right hand boards – Lundqvist tried to slow it and missed – and the puck continued around the left boards and rocketed to center.  At the point – Rick Nash - the Ranger’s leading goal scorer – realized the opportunity and headed into the Calgary zone as the puck reached him like a perfect pass.  Caught in a line change – the Flames were late covering and Nash skated right in on Karri Ramo.  From there Rick deked the Flame’s goaltender, crossed left in front of him – drawing contact from Calgary’s late-arriving defenseman – and directed the puck around Ramo’s right pad and into the net.   

The Game stayed 1-0 until the final seconds of the first.  With time running down and the Rangers with the man advantage – Zuccarello fired a slapshot that Ramo handled – but as Russell – his defensemen – tried to softly feed the pack back to his goalie – Chris Kreider darted forward and skimmed the puck down Ramo’s leg and into the net at 19:52.

In the 2^nd Nash got his 2^nd of the night off a pretty Stepan feed for a 3-1 lead.  And then Stepan scored himself on a pretty wraparound at 11:15 that sent Ramo to the showers for the night trailing 4-1.  In came Hiller and the Flames battled back for their first goal less than a minute later.  Still the Rangers and Lundqvist stiffened their defense and they headed to the final period with a 4-1 lead

The third period was scoreless despite offensive pressure by the home team.  Then – with a lengthy 4+ minutes to go – the Flames pull their goalie.  And for the second time in recent memory – Carl Hagelin used his smarts and his speed to score an empty netter for the 5-1 lead with three minutes to go.  This put Hiller back in the net.  But then – after a Marc Staal cross checking penalty – Calgary scored with the extra skater at 18:45 and it was 5-2.

For some reason, the Flames – who had pulled their goalie at 4-1 with 4 minutes to go – declined to do so at 5-2 with a minute 15 to play.   And so, soon enough time expired and the Rangers had their 4^th straight win.

Assists for Stepan, Girardi, St. Louis, Hayes, Stempniak, and yes Lundqvist.  J.T. Miller left the game and went to the locker room - but later returned to the bench and played – a welcome sight with Brassard out of the lineup with the Mumps (the 14^th NHL player to catch the Mumps this year). 

Hank ended up stopping 29 of the 31 shots he faced for a save percentage of 0.935%.

Did Special Teams Decide This Hockey game?  Well, the Rangers had a Power Play goal – a shorthanded goal and an empty netter while only letting up one PPG to the Flames.  On the other hand – even strength they outscored Calgary 2-1, so you can go either way on this one.

Where We Stand: The Rangers rise to their season high of 15-10-4, which puts them in 3^rd place in the Metro – tied with the Caps in points after Washington’s shootout loss, but with a game at hand.

Now What?  More days off for our heroes who rest until Saturday when they begin a home-and-home at the Hurricanes.