Rangers at Flames
Ryan Spooner has made an immediate impact with the New York Rangers since being acquired from Boston as part of the Rick Nash trade. After recording five assists in his first two contests, Spooner looks to continue his good fortune and maintain the Rangers' dominance of the Calgary Flames on Friday when the clubs meet at Scotiabank Saddledome.
"We've got some good stuff on that line," Spooner said of his instant chemistry with Kevin Hayes and Jesper Fast following Wednesday's 6-5 win versus Vancouver. "We've got a guy who likes to go to the front of the net, I like to pass and Hayes has been scoring. That's a good mix." Hayes tallied twice to increase his point total to 11 (six goals, five assists) in his past 10 contests, beginning with a goal and an assist in New York's 4-3 win over Calgary at Madison Square Garden on Feb. 9. That victory improved the Rangers to 6-0-1 in their last seven outings with the Flames, who have dropped two in a row overall and five of their last seven to reside one point out of the last wild-card spot in the Western Conference. "We were saying we controlled our own destiny. Now we are getting to that point where if we don't start stringing wins together, we are going to need some help," Calgary captain Mark Giordano said.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, MSG2 (New York), Sportsnet West (Calgary)
ABOUT THE RANGERS (28-30-6): Spooner isn't the only recent acquisition that is heating up for New York as Vladislav Namestnikov had a goal and an assist in his debut after being obtained in a multi-player trade from Tampa Bay. "Hockey is a fun game, so you have to enjoy it and you have to come to the rink and have fun," the 25-year-old Russian said. Henrik Lundqvist hasn't been having much fun this season, but the 2012 Vezina Trophy winner had reason to smile after his season-high 50-save performance on Wednesday snapped his team's seven-game skid.
ABOUT THE FLAMES (32-24-9): Johnny Gaudreau uncharacteristically lost his cool and was ejected in the third period of Wednesday's 5-2 setback in Colorado on a sequence that began with the reigning Lady Byng Trophy winner being on the receiving end of a high stick from Avalanche forward Blake Comeau. Officials tacked on a matching penalty for embellishment and when Gaudreau protested from the penalty box, he received a 10-minute game misconduct and a trip to the showers. The 12-minute penalty total doubled his season output while his current sum of 24 matches the combined result of his previous two campaigns.
OVERTIME
1. Calgary C Mikael Backlund scored and set up a goal against the Avalanche to raise his point total to six (two goals, four assists) in the past five games.
2. New York owns a 10-4-0 mark versus Pacific Division representatives this season and 40-11-5 record in its last 56 such meetings.
3. Flames LW Matthew Tkachuk, who scored in the first meeting with the Rangers, has collected 26 points (16 goals, 10 assists) in his past 27 games.