Mangiapane, Markstrom Lead Flames to 5-1 Win at MSG

Calgary Flames 5 at New York Rangers 1

Preview

1st Period:

• CGY - Tanev (1) (Gaudreau, Lindholm) 18:50

2nd Period:

• CGY - Mangiapane (4) 2:09

3rd Period:

• NYR - Hunt (1) (Trouba, Miller) 5:25
• CGY - Coleman (2) (Backlund, Pitlick) 8:13
• CGY - Backlund (1) (Coleman, Hanifin) 11:32
• CGY - Mangiapane (5) (Andersson, Dube) 19:55 PPG

Recap

The Calgary Flames are going streaking! The Flames went into Madison Square Garden on Monday night and ran the entire road game playbook and emerged with a well-earned 5-1 victory. It really was a clinical performance from the Flames in all aspects of their game at even strength, goaltending, and special teams.

Calgary opened the game with a lot of possession, putting a number of high quality shots on Ranger goalie Igor Shesterkin, but he did a great job turning them away. On the other end Jacob Markstrom was strong too, with the highlight of the first period being his stop on Artemi Panarin’s breakaway attempt. Markstrom calmly deflected the shot into the netting and didn’t flinch with the superstar bearing down on him.

Late in the period the Flames finally broke through Shesterkin with Johnny Gaudreau finding the trailing Chris Tanev on the rush who got a shot through him for the lead. The goal was Tanev’s first of the season and extended point streaks for both Gaudreau and Elias Lindholm who also picked up an assist on the goal.

Early in the second period, the Flames would extend their lead thanks to a bad Rangers giveaway as Andrew Mangiapane was handed the puck in the low slot and he ripped a wrist shot into the top corner for his fourth goal of the season.

New York got back within one early in the third period as Dryden Hunt shoveled home a loose puck in front, but Calgary pressed hard after giving up the goal, something we haven’t seen a lot of in past years.

The pressure paid off as Blake Coleman would eventually bury his own rebound after a good offensive zone sequence, with Mikael Backlund and Tyler Pitlick grabbing assists. Three minutes later, Backlund would extend the lead to 4-1 by walking in to the Ranger zone and picking the corner on Shesterkin with a rather unassuming shot.

Finally, Andrew Mangiapane would round out the scoring late in the third period on the powerplay after a Rasmus Andersson slap shot bounced off the end boards and right to him at the side of the net to cement the victory and 5-1 scoreline.

With the win, the Flames extended their winning streak to three games and snapped the Rangers at four in the process.

Final Thoughts

• Was really impressed by Oliver Kylington again tonight as he totally looks the part of an NHL regular through his limited action this year.
• As a result of Kylington’s strong play, we saw Chris Tanev once again posting very good numbers tonight, leading the team with 83.6 xGF% and scoring a goal as well.
• The top line wasn’t as dominant as in previous games but did put together a pretty respectable game when called upon
• The Coleman-Backlund-Pitlick trio was very good, with particular focus on Coleman who had two points and a game-high eight shots
• Sean Monahan had a better game in my opinion after getting some criticism earlier in the week, he had a few scoring chances but it really feels like he can only do so much with Lucic and Lewis as his linemates. It was a step in the right direction at the very least.
• Mentioned it briefly in the recap, but I was very impressed with how the Flames pushed back after giving up the goal that made it 2-1. Past year’s teams often folded in those situations but this time they pushed back hard and were rewarded with two goals within five minutes of allowing the goal.
• The start for tonight’s game was also quite impressive, perhaps even more so than their first period on Saturday in Washington as frankly the Flames were unlucky to only be up 1-0 after one period. Again, that’s something they struggled with last year but so far they are doing a great job of starting on time this year.

Flame of the Game

Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images

Jacob Markstrom (G): With honourable mentions to Andrew Mangiapane, Blake Coleman, and Oliver Kylington, I give tonight’s title to Markstrom. It’s a good night when you could have at least 4-5 Flames of the Game.

Markstrom was particularly impressive in the first fourty minutes of the game and into the third before Calgary got the dagger goals midway through the frame. Despite being literally run over (with no call) at one point, he was dialed in all night long and made at least three fantastic saves on top players. His strong play allowed the Flames to maintain their momentum and run away with the game, which is something we didn’t see as much of during last year.

The Flames will be right back at it tomorrow night when they head to Newark for a date with the New Jersey Devils. Puck drop will be at 5:00 PM MT as the Flames look to win their fourth straight game on this road trip.