1. Across The Hudson
New opponent. New state.
Same big-city feel.
The Flames spent Wednesday resetting in Manhattan after a tough start to this five-game, Eastern road trip, with the midpoint of the nine-day tour set for this evening at the Prudential Center in Newark.
First-period penalties got Calgary off-kilter two nights ago at Madison Square Garden, and two second-period goals by the Rangers only further frustrated their guests Tuesday in a 4-0 setback.
But in this busy month of March, there's no real time to dwell on what went wrong.
Consider forward Matt Coronato, who had a whack of friends and family on hand at MSG. He led Calgary with six shots on goal - and 10 shot attempts - against the Rangers, but could not solve veteran goalie Jonathan Quick.
For his Head Coach, the message remains simple.
If at first, you don't succeed. Try, try again.
"I mean, you just gotta keep shooting, though," Ryan Huska said of Coronato, who has 14 goals on the campaign. "When you are in a situation like he's in, I think the challenge for a young player is to get down on themselves a little bit and let the frustration creep in when it's almost the opposite.
"Just go back at it, and every chance you get, you go to the net as hard as you can, and eventually, one's gonna go in off you, and you gotta continue to believe in yourself."
Last year, the bit of home time did Coronato well. In the three road fixtures against the Rangers, Devils and Islanders, the Long Island product scored four times.
And if he keeps generating the way he did Tuesday, the law of averages suggests soon, his - and by extension, the Flames' - luck will turn.
