Johnny Gaudreau scored twice and had an assist and Jacob Markstrom made 22 saves for the shutout as the Calgary Flames extended their point streak to 10 games with an emphatic 6-0 victory over the New York Rangers Saturday.
Matthew Tkachuk, with a goal and three assists, also had a big night offensively to extend his point streak to six games. Sean Monahan, Brad Richardson and Milan Lucic also scored for Calgary (7-1-3), which moved within one point of the Pacific Division-leading Edmonton Oilers.
The Flames are 2-0-2 on a homestand that concludes Tuesday against the San Jose Sharks.
New York (6-3-3), which had its seven-game point streak on the road come to an end, finished a four-game trip at 1-1-2. The Rangers host the Florida Panthers Monday.
In recording his fourth shutout of the season, one of Markstrom’s biggest stops came early in the second to keep the score 1-0. Chris Kreider, who entered the night tied for third in the NHL with eight goals, was set up in the slot by a Barclay Goodrow rush, but he was denied.
Markstrom improved to 5-1-3. Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin, who had 31 stops, fell to 5-2-2.
Up 1-0 after the first period, the Flames took control with goals just over two minutes apart midway through the second.
WATCH | Tkachuk finds back of net with between-the-legs effort:
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Matthew Tkachuk’s impressive tally seals Calgary’s 6-0 victory over New York. 0:54
At 9:15, Richardson got his first of the season when he collected an Oliver Kylington shot off the end boards and shovelled it inside the near post. Kylington’s assist extended his point streak to a career-best six games.
Calgary made it 3-0 at 11:19. Noah Hanifin misfired on a slapshot from the point, but the three-hopper on net couldn’t be controlled by Shesterkin and Gaudreau ended up banging in the loose puck from the side of the net.
Rough reception for Rangers’ Adam Fox
The Flames blew it open in the third with Gaudreau backhanding in his second as he cut to the net off the wing, Lucic notching his fourth, then Tkachuk going between his legs for a highlight-reel effort.
The Scotiabank Saddledome crowd of 15,879 was as loud as they’ve been all season and it started from the outset, loudly booing Adam Fox every time the Rangers defenceman touched the puck. It was in response to the Flames third-round pick in 2016 forcing a trade away from Calgary due to his unwillingness to sign with the team.
WATCH | Reaves given penalty for hit to head of Calgary’s Mangiapane:
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New York forward Ryan Reaves hits Calgary forward Andrew Mangiapane in the head. Reaves is given a minor penalty and Mangiapane stays in the game. 0:42
It looked briefly like Fox would get his revenge when he appeared to score the tying goal at 18:17 of the first, in which afterwards he brought his glove up to his ear as he faced the crowd during his celebration.
But the volume of the booing intensified as video review showed that Samuel Blais had preceded the puck into the zone on the Rangers rush, resulting in the goal being waved off. As the officials made the announcement, the video screen zoomed in on Fox on the bench, causing the fans to erupt.
Notes: The Flames improved to 7-0-0 against Eastern-Conference opponents… Ryan Reaves returned to the Rangers lineup after missing four games due to injury… Monahan scored his 206th career goal, moving him past Eric Vail and into eighth on the franchise all-time list.
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