Rangers fall out of playoff position with listless loss to Flames
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A smattering of heckles ushered them off the ice after a lopsided middle frame.And the jeering chorus struck up again as they left the ice at the final horn. The win allowed the Flames to snap a three-game losing skid and temporarily move into a two-way tie with the Canucks for the second wild-card spot in the West at 73 points, before Vancouver squared off with the Jets later Tuesday night. Since the Canadiens beat the Senators Tuesday night, Montreal took over the second wild-card spot from the Rangers. The Rangers’ energy was imposing at the very start, but quickly fizzled and never returned after they opened the scoring. Artemi Panarin whipped in his 30th goal of the season from the left circle less than 2 ½ minutes in, giving the Rangers a 1-0 lead and extending his point streak to 10 games. It was all Flames from there on.
The visitors ended up outscoring the Blueshirts 2-1 and outshooting them 15-5 through the opening 20 minutes. Calgary caused havoc around the Rangers net all game.Nazem Kadri capitalized on their net-front efforts first, swooping in and burying the third Flames rebound of the shift to even the score at one-all at th...