FLAMES DROP OT THRILLER

NEW YORK - Not even Broadway could deliver a show like THAT.
If you thought for one second the Flames and Rangers would simply dip their toe in the water after a lengthy, nine-day layoff - think again. A once-in-a-season clash in the shadow of the Empire State Building brought out the best in both sides, and a packed house of more than 18,000 rabid New Yorkers were treated to a dramatic, Monday-night spectacle.
Fitting, for The World's Most Famous Arena.

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This one had it all. Punishing hits, big-time brawls, and an all-out, back-and-forth fight to the finish. The immediate reaction from the Twitterverse agrees, with many calling it the Game of the Year.
The only missing if you're the Flames...
The result.
Down 3-2 in the third period, Andrew Mangiapane pulled the Flames back even with a right-foot redirect of Noah Hanifin's cross-crease feed, before Michael Stone stepped into a long-range bomb that - if not for the twine - would have threatened both life and property.
The two goals came only 2:03 apart.
Mika Zibanejad then made it a 4-4 game 7:05 to play, roofing a centring pass from Artemi Panarin to force the game to overtime.
Alexis Lafrenière scored the winner at 1:37 of the extra period, shovelling home a rebound after Jacob Markstrom made a senational stop on a Zibanejad one-timer, sealing a 5-4 victory for the Rangers on Monday at Madison Square Garden.
With the OT loss, the Flames' record drops to 24-17-10 on the year.
Blake Coleman and Tyler Toffoli scored the others for Calgary, while Markstrom made 28 saves.
"I thought we showed a lot of good character out there," said MacKenzie Weegar. "We showed that we love each other, we care for each other, and a lot of guys stepped up. ... That was probably the positive of tonight. But we probably would have liked the two points when we had them at 4-3."
While the Flames left with only one of the two points they were after, the character they showed could be even more valuable to them down the stretch.
Rangers defenceman Jacob Trouba dished out a pair of hellacious open-ice hits in the game. Both times, a teammate stepped in and answered the bell.
"I feel like it's means that we're all in," said Weegar, who was involved in one of the game's three fights. "We're all together here. We're still going to keep pushing here. It's a big point to start a road trip, coming off a long break, coming into a tough building. We're going to keep grinding away here and it means a lot that we care for each other and are going to step in."
The Rangers opened the scoring at 5:37 of the first, after a quick, one-touch breakout caught the Flames flat-footed in the neutral zone. Kaapo Kakko made a soft area pass off the boards near the benches, connecting with Filip Chytil in full flight. Chytil then barreled down the right side and snapped a quick shot under the blocker of Markstrom to send the packed house into a frenzy.
A few minutes later, the Flames had a golden opportunity to respond on the game's first powerplay when Nazem Kadri set up Andrew Mangiapane for a point-blank one-timer between the hashmarks, but Jaroslav Halak kicked out the left toe to keep it a 1-0 game.
No matter.
The Flames kept at it and got the goal they deserved off a tenacious play from Coleman and Mangiapane at 10:25.
Mangiapane won a battle off the rush and made a nifty skate-to-stick pass to Coleman, who swatted a loose puck from the doorstep through the wickets to score his 11th of the year and his fourth (in only seven games), lifetime, at MSG.

Tempers flared near the 14-minute mark of the period when Jacob Trouba stepped up and decked Dillon Dube with a heavy hit at the blueline. Without hesitation, Chris Tanev shed the mitts and had a spirited tilt with the rugged, Rangers blueliner.
Then, things got extra spicy.
Sammy Blais came all the way cross the ice and delivered a heavy check on Milan Lucic, sparking all sorts of chaos.
First, Nikita Zadorov chased after Blais and created a dogpile in the neutral zone. Then, Weegar stepped in and absolutely demolished the recently recalled Will Cuylle in a one-sided bout.
The referees needed a fair bit of time to sort things out. In the end - and after a lengthy video review - Blais was not assessed a penalty at all and as a result of the fracas, the Flames found themselves short-handed.
Fortunately for the visitors, they killed it off and went to the locker-room in a 1-1 tie. Shots on goal favoured the Flames 11-10 in that chippy opening frame.
The Flames hounded the puck and were easily the better team in the opening few minutes of the second, but an offensive-zone turnover by Kadri sent Chytil off to the races, and he made no mistake with a quick shot through the five-hole.
Undeterred, the Flames went back on the attack and peppered the Rangers net with a pair of glorious looks, both banging iron. First, it was Noah Hanifin that rifled one of the short-side post, before Mikael Backlund - off a delicious feed from Dube - put it through the blue paint and off the far support.
Markstrom wasn't tested nearly as much at the other end - facing only 12 shots through the first 29 minutes of the game - but he was good when called upon. New York's 13th attempt was a doozy, as Jimmy Vesey circled the zone and turned a nothing to play into a clean path to the net.
But some leather larceny from Markstrom kept the deficit to one.
The Flames tied things up with a powerplay goal at 16:25. Toffoli took a pass from Andersson, walked in off the left circle and - with Elias Lindholm supplying the screen in front - rifled a shot off the far post and in for his 19th of the year.

Just when we thought things had settled after the earlier shenanigans, the temperature rose again late in the period when Trouba (again) stepped up and crushed Kadri with a violent open-ice hit that sent the all-star's helmet flying through the air.
This time, it was Dube bravely stepping up for his teammate - but it was not a fight he had much of a chance in against the throwback defender. (Of note, that was Dube's first-ever big-league tussle.)
"Just showing up," Dube said in the room afterward. "If he lands one on me, so be it. If I show up, I'll be fine. ... I know every single guy in the locker-room would do the exact same for me. I was the closest guy to step up and help guys out. Step up, help guys out, and that's what Tanny did for me. It's hard not to do it when our hardest-working guy does it for me in the first period."
To make matters worse, Dube was assessed an instigator penalty that put the Rangers on the powerplay. And with 14 seconds left in the period, Chris Kreider connected with Zibanejad with a pretty, behind-the-back feed that put the homeside back in front, 3-2.
A three-goal third then set the stage for overtime.
"We played pretty (well)," Backlund said. "I thought both teams played with some pretty good pace and were fresh out of the break. Wasn't too sloppy like some games can be after a break. I thought it was a good, intense game. We wanted to win, of course.
"Just got away from us."

THEY SAID IT:

BY THE NUMBERS:

Shots: CGY 32 - NYR 33
Powerplay:CGY 1-for-3 - NYR 1-for-3
Hits: CGY 25 - NYR 25
Faceoffs: CGY 57% - NYR 43%
\Scoring chances: CGY 19 - NYR 27
\High-danger scoring chances: CGY 6 - NYR 11
*Courtesy of Natural Stat Trick (5-on-5)

THE LINEUP:

FORWARDS:
Dillon Dube - Elias Lindholm - Tyler Toffoli
Jakob Pelletier - Nazem Kadri - Jonathan Huberdeau
Andrew Mangiapane - Mikael Backlund - Blake Coleman
Milan Lucic - Adam Ruzicka - Trevor Lewis
DEFENCE:
Noah Hanifin - Rasmus Andersson
MacKenzie Weegar - Chris Tanev
Nikita Zadorov - Michael Stone

GOALTENDERS:
Jacob Markstrom - Starter
Dan Vladar

UP NEXT:

The Flames continue this four-game swing on Thursday against the Detroit Red Wings, before visiting the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday and wrapping up the trip next Monday against the Ottawa Senators.