New York Rangers goaltender Jaroslav Halak, right, stops a shot from Calgary Flames forward Jonathan Huberdeau, left, while defenseman Braden Schneider checks during the second period of NHL hockey action in Calgary February 18.Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press
Jonathan Huberdeau’s first season in Calgary was tough, but he hopes Saturday night was a sign things are changing.
Huberdeau had two main assists, including setting up Mikael Backlund’s overtime winner as the Flames beat the New York Rangers 3-2 and ended the visitor’s seven-game winning streak.
“I want to play well and tonight I have to play like that for the rest of the year,” Huberdeau said. “Sometimes you think you don’t have it in you and tonight I showed that I still have it and can make a few games and play well.”
After finishing second in the NHL last season with 115 points (30 goals, 85 assists), Huberdeau was traded to Calgary this summer in a blockbuster deal that sent Matthew Tkachuk to the Florida Panthers.
Huberdeau has just 38 points (10 goals, 28 assists) from 53 games with his new team.
“I just have to move my feet and good things will happen and make a few plays and shoot a little more,” said Huberdeau.
The crucial point at 1:28 was when Backlund deflected a Huberdeau shot past Jaroslav Halak while Adam Fox served a high penalty.
“You know my shot, there was no way that was in it,” Huberdeau said with a chuckle. “I saw Backs was wide open. He works on it every morning, so this time the work paid off. This is a big win for us.”
“Great shot from him when he saw we had some space up front,” said Backlund. “He had a good night for us and he played really well, created a lot of chances and looks in the ozone zone.”
Andrew Mangiapane and Nazem Kadri also scored for Calgary (26-19-11). The Flames picked up points for a second wildcard spot in the Western Conference with Minnesota, but the Wild have a game in hand.
Vladimir Tarasenko and Alexis Lafreniere answered for Rangers (33-14-9), who have points in their last 10 games (8-0-2). New York is two points behind New Jersey in second place in the Metropolitan Division.
“We went down as early as we did, first two shifts of the game 2-0, to win back a point we had to get it back,” said Rangers center Vincent Trocheck, who had two assists. “I thought we played a good game the rest of the way. Only the first two minutes really killed us.”
Rangers had scored 36 goals during their winning streak – including at least four goals in seven straight games for the first time since February 1991.
But against a struggling Flames team with just one in the previous five, they could only untie Jacob Markstrom twice with 21 shots.
“That’s two points, good team effort,” said Markstrom, who won for only the second time since January 6th. “We are a team and we stick together and put in a great team effort from puck drop to OT today.”
Calgary, up 2-1 after 40 minutes, had numerous chances in the third game to regain a two-goal lead, but Halak finished brilliantly with 29 saves.
“We hung it up to dry early in the morning. Some of his saves were incredible,” said Rangers defender Ryan Lindgren.
The Flames know the kind of effort they put in on Saturday needs to become the norm if they are to qualify for the postseason.
“Come out of every game full of energy and just leave it on the ice,” Backlund said. “Every game is a playoff game for us. We can’t afford to lose too many more so we need to make a streak here.”
Falling 2-0 down less than a minute into the game, the result stayed that way until New York halved the deficit at 16:53 of the second when Tarasenko completed a lovely three-way passing game with Artemi Panarin and Trocheck.
Panarin’s helper extended his points streak to seven games (6-9-15).
Rangers drew 2-2 with Lafreniere’s power-play goal at 12:48 of game three.
“It’s nice to win games when you come back, but in the beginning you should play better,” Tarasenko said. “Everyone knows we can play better. I don’t think anyone is happy with the result today.”
Eight seconds after Mangiapane buried a breakaway 38 seconds into the game, Kadri finished a tick-tock-toe passing game involving Huberdeau and Jakob Pelletier that got the Saddledome crowd buzzing.
Lindholm is absent
Flames were without center No. 1 Elias Lindholm, who was absent from the team due to the birth of his first child. His place between Dillon Dube and Tyler Toffoli was taken by Adam Ruzicka, who has no points in his last 15 games and has gone 26 games without a goal.
success on Saturday
Calgary improves to 10-2-2 in Saturday’s games. This includes five home wins in a row on Saturdays.
streak breaker
Chris Kreider had ended his seven-game point streak (5-4-9), while Mika Zibanejad (8-3-11) had ended his six-game point streak. Halak had also ended his seven-game winning streak. His last loss was on December 3, 2022.
Next
Ranger: Return home on Monday to host the Winnipeg Jets.
Flames: End a three-game homestand Monday with a matinee against the Philadelphia Flyers.
Source: www.theglobeandmail.com
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