Rangers’ five-game win streak goes up in Flames

CALGARY, Alberta — This was one that got away.

Or maybe it was given away by the Rangers, who never quite seemed to buckle down in what became a 4-3 defeat to the Flames on Friday night that was chock full of blunders with and without the puck in the critical areas of the ice.

“I don’t think it should take five goals for us to win,” Brad Richards said after his team’s five-game winning streak came to an inglorious end. “We made mistakes that we don’t usually make, we got a little careless and when that happens, the odds are not in your favor.”

The Rangers fell behind 2-0 in the first, but grabbed the lead with a three-goal burst within a span of 3:27 early in the second. Alas, the Blueshirts suffered collective brain cramps in surrendering the edge by the end of the second, yielding a bevy of odd-man rushes through the neutral zone and second and third chances around the net in front of Henrik Lundqvist, who was a guilty party, as well, yielding a softie for the winner when Mike Cammalleri’s routine right wing shot trickled through the five-hole at 19:52.

“I have to play better,” Lundqvist said. “I felt like I was making good saves, but then I gave up that fourth one.

“No matter what, there’s no excuse for me not stopping that shot.”

No matter, that is, that the Rangers turned over the puck repeatedly on their way into the Calgary end and into their end. No matter, that is, that the Rangers were caught deep against the rush. No matter, that is, that the Blueshirts did not play with the 60-minute mindset required to win at this time of year, even if up against an opponent out of the playoffs, such as the Flames.

“You can’t take anything for granted,” Lundqvist said. “They have been beating a lot of teams. They’re playing for pride and for jobs. They’re going to come hard no matter what.”

The Blueshirts are still six points clear of a playoff spot but just one point up on the Flyers for second place and first-round home ice in the Metropolitan Division with Philadelphia holding two games in hand. The Rangers poured 41 shots on Karri Ramo, but never were able to put a stop to the Flames’ rush.

They not only could not build off the 3-2 lead they achieved at 5:39 of the second on goals from Brian Boyle, Raphael Diaz and Richards, they never were able to stabilize the match, in which Calgary operated in wide-open spaces most of the way.

“When we got the lead, we got suborn with what we were doing, trying to make too many plays instead of just getting the puck in behind their ‘D,’ ” Dan Girardi said. “If we had just gotten the puck in deep, it would have been a different game but we didn’t play with the same conviction.

“We got sloppy and gave them too many chances.”

The Derek Stepan-Rick Nash-Martin St. Louis unit struggled, trapped on the second Calgary goal while scrambling all night. St. Louis, who was whistled for an offensive zone holding penalty in pursuit of the puck with 2:08 remaining in regulation, suffered through a miserable match in going scoreless for the 13th straight game since coming to the Rangers at the deadline.

“We had some chances but we can’t get caught the way we did on the forecheck on that goal,” Nash said. “We have to clean that up.”

Few Rangers stood out in a fundamentally flawed performance. J.T. Miller was benched in the third. Indeed, the Boyle-Dominic Moore-Derek Dorsett fourth line was probably the Rangers’ most effective. That unit accounted for nine shots on 14 attempts while the Stepan combination produced only four shots on six attempts.

“We’re in a playoff spot, but nothing is assured,” said Girardi, whose team plays in Edmonton, Alberta, on Sunday. “We need every point we can get. This has to stop at one loss. We can’t afford to let this get away.”

Like Friday’s game did, that is.