The Calgary Flames will try to win their third straight
contest when they welcome the New York Rangers for this evening's
interconference battle at the Saddledome.
The Flames have begun the month of November with consecutive road victories
and picked up both of those wins in overtime. Calgary has won five of its last
seven games overall.
After beating Dallas, 3-2, on Wednesday, the Flames came out the following
night and edged St. Louis, 2-1, at Scottrade Center. Dion Phaneuf scored the
game-winning goal against the Blues, as he slapped a shot past Chris Mason at
the 2:50 mark of the extra session.
Jarome Iginla scored the other goal for the Flames, while Miikka Kiprusoff
turned aside 30-of-31 shots for the victors.
"I think overall it was probably our best road game of the year. We were
suddenly more patient in the way we played. I thought our neutral zone play
was much better," Flames head coach Brent Sutter said.
Tonight's test is just one of four home dates in November for the Flames, who
are 5-3-0 at the Saddledome this season. Following this evening's tilt,
Calgary will head back out on a three-game road trip.
Meanwhile, the Rangers are completing a three-game road trip tonight and are
1-1-0 so far on the western Canadian swing. New York dropped a 4-1 decision
Tuesday in Vancouver, but bounced back with Thursday's victory at Edmonton.
Ales Kotalik had a goal and two assists to lead the Blueshirts to a 4-2
triumph over the Oilers at Rexall Place. Kotalik, who has six goals and nine
assists this season, finally reached the scoresheet after a four-game
pointless streak.
"We needed those two points and the way I saw it, it was a pretty even game
and special teams made a difference tonight," said Kotalik. "Our PK was
tremendous and we made a difference in the power play."
Marian Gaborik had a goal and an assist, while Christopher Higgins and Ryan
Callahan also scored for the Rangers, who have won two of three after dropping
five of their previous six games.
Stephen Valiquette made 26 saves in the win, but No. 1 goaltender Henrik
Lundqvist will be back in net tonight. Lundqvist is 1-2-0 with a 3.02 goals-
against average in three career games against Calgary.
New York forward Dane Byers will be available for tonight's game after serving
a one-game suspension for instigating an altercation in Tuesday's game against
the Canucks. Rangers head coach John Tortorella was also fined $10,000 for the
incident.
The Rangers are 4-4-1 on the road this year and will play their next game at
home when they welcome Atlanta to the Big Apple on Thursday.
Calgary notched a 3-0 road win over the Rangers in the only meeting between
the clubs in 2008-09 and the Flames have taken three of the last four overall
in the series. New York has just two wins in its last 16 trips to Calgary.
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