Sunday night saw the struggling Calgary Flames host the New York Rangers, who were coming off a loss to give the San Jose Sharks their first win of the season. This might have been an encouraging sign going into the game if not for the Flames starting an eight-game losing streak since their season opener.
Summary of the game
Nazem Kadri opened the scoring for the Flames in less than two minutes, following a creative give-and-go play between him and Jonathan Huberdeau, which Kadri capped by firing a wrist shot that beat Igor Shesterkin’s glove.
Just before the midway point of the first frame, the Flames extended their lead to two after Kevin Bahl’s first goal of the season, which came on another top-shelf wrist shot from distance that once again beat Shesterkin’s glove.
The two-goal lead didn’t last long, however, with the Rangers responding 10 seconds later when Noah Laba scored his first career NHL goal in his 10th career game.
The second half of the first period remained scoreless, but the Flames would cut the lead to two just over halfway through the second frame after Yegor Sharangovich’s first goal of the season. With an assist on goal, Connor Zary broke an eight-game pointless streak.
The Flames then extended their lead to four with two goals from Blake Coleman in the third period. The first came up short after a two-on-one give-and-go play with Mikael Backlund, and the second went in with a long shot from the boards and was also assisted by Backlund to cap off a 5–1 victory for the Flames.
It was the first game this season in which the Flames scored more than three goals. Now, with eight goals in the last two games, that matches the total of goals scored in the previous six games.
The only other time these two teams will face each other this season will be in early March at Madison Square Garden. Before that, the Flames are back in action on Tuesday against the Toronto Maple Leafs, and the Rangers will play on the road against the Vancouver Canucks later that same evening.
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