CALGARY, Alberta _ The Rangers were never expected to be a playoff contender in this rebuilding season but for much of the season they'd done a decent job of hanging in there against some of the top teams in the league.
But reality set in a while ago for the Blueshirts, and now their season has begun to unravel on this swing through Western Canada. The Calgary Flames, one of the elite teams in the Western Conference, were simply too much on Friday night, getting two goals and two assists from Matthew Tkachuk in overpowering the Rangers, 5-1. The Rangers (28-30-13) are 0-2-1 on their four-game road trip that concludes Saturday night in Minnesota They are 2-5-5 in their last 12 games, with their only victories in that stretch coming against the lowly and banged-up Devils.
Rangers forward and alternate captain Chris Kreider offered up a "no comment" when asked at the morning skate about his ejection from Wednesday's game in Vancouver and the subsequent $5,000 fine the NHL hit him with for his five-minute elbowing penalty against Vancouver's Elias Pettersson.
"What happened, happened," Kreider said. "Obviously, it was unfortunate."
Kreider wasn't in much of a mood to talk about his or the team's recent struggles, either, other than saying, "We've got to find ways to win games ... We're finding ways to lose games right now."
As was the case in Vancouver, the second period was a problem for the Rangers Friday, albeit without two players getting ejected. With the score tied at 1 after the first period, the Flames scored goals early in the second to go up 3-1. Tkachuk got the first one, tipping in a shot from defenseman Mark Giordano for his 31st goal of the season at 2:56. Rangers goalie Alexandar Georgiev complained to the referee that Tkachuk had interfered with him, but the goal stood, and the Flames had the lead. A minute and 10 seconds later, they extended the lead when Garnet Hathaway got free on the goal crease to redirect Tkachuk's pass from the right corner for his eighth goal of the season at 4:06.
Tkachuk set up a goal by Michael Frolik at 5:12 of the third and added his second goal at 9:49.
The teams had exchanged goals 1:10 apart in the first period, when Johnny Gaudreau converted a breakaway just after a Flames power play had ended for his 34th goal of the season at 10:00. Neal Pionk got that back, though, with his sixth goal of the season _ and first since Dec. 23, ending a drought of 29 games played, at 11:10. The goal was Pionk's first point in nine games and his third in 30 games.
But while this trip has had two players break long goalless droughts, the Blueshirts' top two scorers continue to come up empty. Mika Zibanejad, the team's leader in goals and assists, has gone eight games without scoring a goal, and he has only three assists in that stretch. Kreider, who is second on the team in goals and assists now is goalless in nine consecutive games, with just two assists in that stretch.
"If you don't score and you win, that's another thing, but when you don't score, and you're supposed to be productive... and we don't win, then you feel like you could do a little bit more, obviously," Zibanejad said. "We're just trying to get a win ... If we can score, probably it helps."
Coach David Quinn had split up the pair last week, but he reunited them with Jesper Fast on right wing against the Canucks. Against Calgary, Quinn kept Kreider and Zibanejad together, this time with Jimmy Vesey at right wing for the first two periods and Pavel Buchnevich for the third.
