“We got outworked. They were better than us in the first.”-Rangers coach Peter Laviolette

To hear coach Peter Laviolette say it, the Rangers were outworked by the Flames in a frustrating 3-2 loss at Scotiabank Saddledome in snowy Calgary on Thursday night. He wasn’t in a very talkative mood following the one-goal defeat. Still irked by a call that went against them, with Toronto ruling that there wasn’t a hand pass on a Yegor Sharangovich power-play goal which made it 2-0 Flames, Laviolette didn’t understand how the ruling by the league.

“He opened up his hand to play the puck. He goes to grab it, and it bats off of his hand and goes right to their player. It got called dead two more times in the game – the exact same plays.”

Laviolette was referring to Jonathan Huberdeau. Sharangovich chipped a backhand pass in the direction of Huberdeau, who went to glove it down. Instead, the puck deflected off him. Coronato then retrieved the puck behind the net, came out and centered for a Sharangovich one-timer that Igor Shesterkin had no chance on.

It was a good coach’s challenge by Laviolette. At the time, his team had nothing going. Up to that point, they’d been badly outplayed by the faster Flames. His contention was that Huberdeau opened his hand. While he was correct, the way they ruled on the play made sense. The puck missed his hand and deflected off him. That’s why they upheld the goal.

Having a tough call go against them isn’t why they lost. Will Cuylle summed it up best. “We weren’t doing anything right in the first. We were pretty bad.”

He also spoke at length about when they’re most effective. That would be when they’re moving their feet and generating shots off the forecheck. There wasn’t much of that. In fact, the Flames led 30-9 in shots at one point in the second period. Shot attempts were lopsided. It wasn’t until the second half of the game that they started to get some traction.

Alexis Lafreniere put in a rebound of a Jacob Trouba point shot with Vincent Trocheck screening Flames goalie Dustin Wolf in front. Trocheck didn’t pick up a point on the goal. But it was his grunt work that allowed Lafreniere to score his eighth, cutting the deficit in half with 3:23 left in the second.

On the very next shift, it took only 16 seconds for Cuylle to tie it up with his seventh. After a faceoff win from Kaapo Kakko, who Laviolette shifted to center – a diving Adam Fox got a shot off that rebounded back to K’Andre Miller. He took a point shot that Cuylle redirected past Wolf to suddenly make it 2-2 with 3:07 remaining.

Chris Kreider nearly had the go-ahead goal on a two-on-one with Reilly Smith. Smith skated in and made a nice cross-ice pass for Kreider. But he flubbed the shot with a few seconds to go in the period. It was the only real scoring chance Kreider had. He and Mika Zibanejad were a nightmare. Along with Smith, they were outshot 11-0 at five-on-five. At least Smith had a shot hit the goalpost. He was more active during shifts than his linemates.

If not for the play of Shesterkin, the Rangers would have been blown out of the building. He stood on his head for most of the game. He was peppered by a relentless Flames’ attack. They held a 20-5 edge in shots during a one-sided first period. He certainly held up his end of the bargain. Shesterkin stopped 46 of 49 shots for the game. It was far too many.

The Flames got on the scoreboard first. On a play in the corner, Mikael Backlund won a loose puck from Zibanejad. He then sent MacKenzie Weegar out of the zone. Weegar moved the puck for Sharangovich, who dropped it for a Coronato shot through traffic that Shesterkin didn’t pick up. Coronato’s sixth gave the Flames a 1-0 lead at 7:26. Sharangovich drove to the net, with Braden Schneider back. That made it tough on Shesterkin.

Aside from taking a tripping minor, Shesterkin was the only reason the Flames weren’t ahead by more. He stopped 19 of 20 shots to keep his team within striking distance.

The start of the second was even worse. The Flames kept coming in waves without any resistance. They quickly got off six shots in just over three minutes. They used their speed in transition and fired from everywhere. That was the strategy. To hear Rangers color analyst Joe Micheletti describe it, they peppered Shesterkin. He kept making big saves.

In between the Flames’ barrage, Wolf stopped Lafreniere. A bit later, Smith had a one-timer ring off the goalpost. That was it for the “first line.” So much for riding momentum.

Artemi Panarin took a slashing minor on Martin Pospisil. With the Flames on a five-on-four, they doubled up. Huberdeau had the puck deflect off his glove. He moved it over for Coronato, who then fed an open Sharangovich for the power-play goal. Laviolette took his time before initiating the challenge. After a couple of minutes, they ruled that it wasn’t a hand pass. The goal counted. The Rangers were penalized for delay of game. Laviolette voiced his displeasure with the decision.

On the following Calgary power play, Shesterkin made a big save on Huberdeau. That allowed the Rangers to hand around long enough to make it a game.

They began to build some momentum thanks to a strong shift from the second line. Lafreniere, Panarin, and Trocheck spent some time in the Flames’ zone, leading to some chances. That included Trocheck testing Wolf, who made a nice save. On their next shift together, Lafreniere got off a good wrist shot that Wolf stopped. It was a hint of what was to come.

On a third straight shift in the Calgary end, they finally got one past Wolf. After he stopped Panarin earlier, Ryan Lindgren got the puck over for a Trouba shot that rebounded right to Lafreniere for his third goal in the last five games. Trocheck distracted Wolf just enough for Lafreniere to get the Rangers within one. Before they could exhale, the Flames took a timeout to see if they could challenge the play. However, they decided against it. Maybe that timeout should’ve been to regroup.

Sixteen seconds later, the gritty Cuylle tipped in a Miller shot past Wolf to tie the score. It’s his consistent play that’s stood out. On a team that lacks many glue guys who’ll get the jersey dirty, the second-year forward is that guy. He makes things happen. Whether it’s using his speed to outhustle opponents, or a jarring hit like the one he later delivered on Connor Zary which drew the ire of Blake Coleman, or scoring a dirty goal, Cuylle is the heart of this team. He is the budding power forward who’ll replace Kreider.

In the third, Coleman lost an edge and tripped up Shesterkin behind his net. That put the Rangers on the power play. As usual, the top unit was too deliberate. They accomplished very little. The second unit came on and right away Zac Jones got a shot right on Wolf. It came off a Kakko faceoff win. Kakko was excellent on draws, winning 6-of-9. Off another won offensive draw, Smith had a one-timer in the right circle denied by Wolf. It was a huge save. Wolf really came up big in the third. He made 10 of his 27 saves in the period.

Sometimes, Trocheck runs his mouth a little too much. Still upset over the failed challenge of a hand pass, he was given an unsportsmanlike conduct minor. Fortunately, the penalty kill bailed him out. Shesterkin only made one save. Cuylle used his strength on the boards to get a big clear. It was another example of what he brings. He later outhustled a Flame to negate an icing.

On what was a frustrating sequence, Weegar and Huberdeau combined to get the puck up for Zary. He gained the Rangers’ zone and moved in and beat Shesterkin short side to put the Flames up 3-2 with 9:25 left in regulation. Kakko hustled back to challenge Zary, who still managed to get the shot off. He caught Shesterkin leaning. It was a good shot.

That was enough for the Flames to win. They seized control afterward. The Rangers didn’t spend enough time in the offensive zone. Laviolette double shifted the Panarin line. It wasn’t enough to find offense.

Eventually, Shesterkin was pulled for an extra attacker. Twice, Calgary missed empty nets. First, Coronato sent a shot that hit the side of the net for a faceoff. With less than 40 seconds remaining, Huberdeau had a wide-open shot that he somehow hit the goalpost on. I don’t know how he missed. At least he recorded his 500th career assist on the game-winner. He’s had a good career. It was better with Florida.

Despite the Flames being unable to score on an empty net, the Rangers ran out of time. They got what they deserved. Now, it’s onto Edmonton for a Hockey Night In Canada.