Photo by Jared Silber/NHLI via Getty Images

Photo by Jared Silber/NHLI via Getty Images

The New York Rangers started sluggish, which is expected on the second of back-to-backs, but finished strong en route to a 4-1 win over the Calgary Flames. The Rangers gave up a goal early, but Antti Raanta kept them in it early –making 22 saves– while the Blueshirts got their legs under them. The first period was pretty ugly, as the Rangers looked slow, were sloppy in their own end, and weren’t generating any chances.

The second period was better, as the Rangers got a few bounces, including a big one that led to Dan Girardi’s first of the season. Then they dominated the third period, putting the game out of reach with two goal in quick succession in the middle of the period. It was clear that the Rangers were playing better in the offensive zone as the game went on, winning board battles and getting guys in front for those bounces. In this game, you make your own luck.

As always, you can view the full videos on our video page here. All GIFs are on nyrgifs.comfiltered under the date of the game. On to the goals:

Flames 1, Rangers 0

hudler goal

Marc Staal coughed up the puck in the defensive zone to Jiri Hudler, which trapped Staal and gave Calgary a mini 3-on-1 against Dan Girardi. Hudler got it to Johnny Gaudreau, who got it back to Hudler for the easy goal. Girardi was helpless on that snow angel.

Rangers 1, Flames 1

Kevin Hayes starts this goal with a nice controlled entry as Marc Staal cut to the front of the net. J.T. Miller covered for Staal at the point, and got the puck on net when Hayes fed him the puck. The puck went wide, and Oscar Lindberg worked along the boards to recover it and get it behind the net to Hayes. Lindberg circled from the boards up high and then cut to the slot. Hayes saw him, spun around and fed him with a perfect backhand pass in the slot. Lindberg beat Jonas Hiller with the one timer.

This was a beautiful goal that illustrated what coaches mean when they say, “Keep your feet moving.” Every player was moving, getting to open ice, covering assignments for pinching defensemen

Rangers 2, Flames 1

Another controlled entry, this time by Dominic Moore. After some solid puck movement, the puck wound up on Jarret Stoll’s stick along the boards. He got it to Emerson Etem at the top of the circle, who shanked his shot. The puck took a lucky bounce right to Dan Girardi, who beat Hiller with Moore in front.

Rangers 3, Flames 1

Keith Yandle controlled the puck into the zone and put a shot on net that Hiller stopped. The rebound went off Stoll to Etem in front and Hiller made a great save on him. The puck eventually went out to Kevin Klein at the top of the circle, and his wrister went off Deryk Engeelland and over Hiller.

Rangers 4, Flames 1

Jesper Fast gained the zone after Ryan McDonagh took a puck off the head at center ice. Fast got it through to Derick Brassard, who curled back to the top of the circle and just fired a wrister through a screen that beat Hiller glove side.

Score Adjusted Shot Attempts

Courtesy of hockeystats.ca

Courtesy of hockeystats.ca

Score adjusted metrics eliminate score effects, like blowouts. This game started really slow, and the Rangers were pretty ugly until late in the second. Then the Rangers took over in the third period and never looked back. Calgary isn’t a deep team, so this isn’t all that surprising. Neither is the Rangers starting slow on the second of a back-to-back.

Scoring Chances

Courtesy of war-on-ice

Courtesy of war-on-ice

The Rangers appeared to wake up a bit as the second period was ending, as they started getting more scoring chances (blue line). They really took off mid-way through the third, as they decided they wanted to put the game away.

Individual Corsi

Courtesy of war-on-ice

Courtesy of war-on-ice

I’m not a big fan of individual game charts like these. I put them here as an FYI and to start noticing trends develop throughout the season. But it’s worth noting a few things here. First is that Girardi and McDonagh have been on the negative part (below the middle line) of this chart through most of the month. Meanwhile, Yandle and Klein have been on the positive side (above the middle line) of things. Etem had a strong game too.

Shift Chart

Courtesy of war-on-ice

Courtesy of war-on-ice

Typical deployment from Alain Vigneault. AV doesn’t really match up forwards to top scorers, he matches his defensemen to top scorers, thus Klein/McDonagh getting the Gaudreau line. Forwards usually get zone start deployment.

Shot Locations

Courtesy of war-on-ice

Courtesy of war-on-ice

The Rangers did a good job limiting the Flames to outside chances outside of high danger areas. They still gave them some good chances from the high slot though. On the offensive side of things, the Rangers were getting prime chances. Most of this came in the second half of the game.

Aside from the clunkers against Winnipeg and Montreal, the Rangers have been relatively strong this season. They aren’t possession monsters and their goaltending will come down a bit (.957 SV% at even strength thus far), but I’m also going to expect them to come up a bit from their 47.9% possession rate. The Rangers are off until Friday, which is much-needed break.

Share: 

More About: