Rasmus Andersson rubs salt into the Rangers' wound after win

Things are not going the New York Rangers’ way at the moment. They lost to the Calgary Flames on Tuesday, and Rasmus Andersson really got under their skin. After the game, he acknowledged just that, rubbing even more salt into the Rangers’ wound.

The race for the Wild Card spots in the Eastern Conference is incredibly tight, with teams fighting for every point. Every loss can be disastrous if the wrong teams around them are winning—and that’s exactly what happened to the Rangers on Tuesday.

New York fell 2-1 to Calgary, while the Montreal Canadiens defeated the Ottawa Senators 6-3, pushing the Rangers one point behind Montreal, who now hold the second Wild Card spot. Making matters worse, the Rangers have played two more games than the Canadiens, putting them at a disadvantage in the standings. On Tuesday, that frustration was evident.

Rasmus Andersson’s words on the Rangers

Flames defenseman Rasmus Andersson was a constant thorn in the Rangers’ side, stirring things up throughout the night. After a physical battle, he exchanged chirps with Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin during a TV timeout in the second period. Later in the same period, he and J.T. Miller both took matching roughing penalties. After the game, Rasmus Andersson didn’t hold back, admitting he had no trouble getting under the Rangers’ skin.
“I feel like (they) got a little bit distracted with it,” he said of the game’s verbal battles, per The Athletic’s Peter Baugh. “Felt like a lot of their guys focused on me instead of playing. It went well.”

The Flames outshot the Rangers 10-3 in the second period, but overall, New York never found their rhythm.
“It’s the whole game, it’s not just that second period,” star forward Mika Zibanejad told reporters. “Even the third period, I was disappointed we didn’t have a better push than that. It’s not good enough.”

Artemi Panarin even admitted this was the worst defeat of the season.
“I would say (the worst),” he said, per the Rockland/Westchester Journal News’ Vincent Z. Mercogliano. “It’s hard to remember all of them right now, because we have (had a) bunch of them this year. We just can’t play like that when we’re fighting for our life.”