Rangers Extinguish Flames 3-1, Henrik Steals Show On Birthday

Mar 3, 2018

spoon

It was the Henrik Lundqvist show for the second game in a row as the Rangers goaltender and birthday boy pulled out another 50 save performance to help seal the deal on the Calgary Flames, as they win in Alberta, 3-1.

The scoring began for the Rangers when Ryan Spooner shot the puck on net towards Flames goaltender Jon Gilles. Kevin Hayes charged the net to bank in the rebound five hole to give the Rangers a 1-0 lead 4:07 into the first period.

Calgary came storming back during a barrage in the Rangers zone, a loose puck bounced to Brett Kulak who banked in the shot towards a wide open cage, to tie the game at one.

Just 56 seconds into the second period, Pavel Buchnevich was fed a pass for a partial breakaway and proceeded to bank in his own rebound on a tremendous second effort to put the Rangers up 2-1.

Right before the Buchnevich goal, Henrik Lundqvist made what can only be explained as a Henrik Lundqvist type save, as he lunged across his crease and made the save with the underside of his blocker and without his stick against Mikael Backlund. This save out of the 50 saves this game perfectly described how dialed in he was tonight, putting the Rangers on his back.

Ryan Spooner continues to impress with his play and make a difference as he nets in a breakaway goal at 10:48 in the second. Tony DeAngelo made a phenomenal from his own zone to feed Spooner and create the scoring chance.

Right before the end of the second period, Travis Hamonic and Chris Kreider dropped the gloves. It wasn’t much but it seemed as if this stemmed from some earlier trash talk between the two.

This was all Henrik Lundqvist needed as he finished off his 50 save performance a winner as the Rangers take the 3-1 out of Calgary.

Although the Rangers were outshot, the offense was active and created a plethora of strong scoring chances. Vladislav Namestnikov hit the post after a feed from Zuccarello, Buchnevich hit the pipe on a breakaway after slipping the puck under goaltender Jon Gilles. Even Rob O’Gara hit the post from the point. The Rangers defense, while not the worst, was not at it’s best tonight, allowing Calgary to pepper Lundqvist with an insane amount of shots and massive amounts of prime scoring chances, but was competent enough, along with a stellar performance by Henrik Lundqvist to win the game.

Ryan Spooner has certainly made his mark, as he contributed to 2 of the 3 Ranger goals tonight and has points in every single game he’s played in as a Ranger so far this season.

The Rangers are right back at it, as they play the Edmonton Oilers Saturday night at 10:30PM.

LETS GO RANGERS

Mentioned in this article:

More About: