Tkachuk has five points in Flames win against Rangers

CALGARY --Matthew Tkachuk scored an NHL career-high five points, and the Calgary Flames reclaimed first place in the Pacific Division and Western Conference with a 5-1 win against the New York Rangers at Scotiabank Saddledome on Friday.

Calgary leads the San Jose Sharks by one point. Each has played 71 games.
Tkachuk had two goals and three assists, and Michael Frolik had a goal and an assist for the Flames (44-20-7), who have won three in a row following a four-game losing streak. David Rittich made 24 saves.
WATCH: [All Rangers vs. Flames highlights]
"It's nice to be at the top of the Pacific again and just keep rolling from here," Tkachuk said.
Neal Pionk scored, and Alexandar Georgiev made 27 saves for the Rangers (28-30-13), who have one win in the past 10 games (1-4-5).
"We've had some good nights but playing hard isn't enough," New York coach David Quinn said. "We didn't play hard enough tonight, that's for sure. We didn't play smart enough. We've been a team that has played hard, but big deal. You should play hard in the National Hockey League. You're a professional athlete. You shouldn't get patted on the back because you played hard. It should be expected. We didn't play hard tonight. We certainly didn't play smart tonight."
Johnny Gaudreau scored at 10:00 of the first period to put Calgary up 1-0. He slid in a forehand deke after taking a 95-foot flip pass from Tkachuk for a breakaway.

"I saw Johnny flying and I saw the (defenseman) and they weren't looking at me, so if I threw it up in the air, it's not like he can turn around, catch it, and come back," Tkachuk said. "I just thought it's better that than rip it hard and see if it goes past him. It landed … it was such a fortunate bounce … it just landed and stopped. Johnny went in and made an unbelievable move."
Pionk scored his first goal in 30 games on a slap shot from just inside the left face-off circle to tie it 1-1 at 11:10.
Tkachuk made it 2-1 at 2:56 of the second period on a deflection of Mark Giordano's shot from the slot.

Garnet Hathaway extended the lead to 3-1 at 4:06 when he redirected Tkachuk's pass from the corner. The assist was Tkachuk's 100th in the NHL.
"It's hard, obviously, in a game like that when things are starting to get away from you against a really good hockey team, and they were really good," Rangers defenseman Marc Staal said. "They were moving the puck around smart. They had some guys that were making some really nice plays and we just didn't have an answer for it."
Frolik made it 4-1 at 5:12 of the third period after lifting a drop pass from Tkachuk at the top of the crease over Georgiev.
"[Tkachuk] had a big night tonight and it's fun to watch when it's clicking like that," Frolik said. "He's a special player and just proved that tonight."

Tkachuk finished a cross-crease pass from Mikael Backlund to make it 5-1 at 9:49.
Tkachuk has 10 points (six goals, four assists) in his past three games.
"I was fortunate enough to play with guys tonight that were able to finish," Tkachuk said. "That goal by Johnny and even that tip by [Hathaway], and when [Frolik] chipped in over the goalie, those are high-skilled plays."

They said it

"It's going to be a battle until the end. It's really tight and it's probably going to be tight until the end. We just want to focus game by game."-- Flames forward Michael Frolik
"It's hard in those situations to not let it snowball. I thought we got down and couldn't get anything going after that." -- Rangers defenseman Marc Staal

Need to know

Tkachuk is the third Flames player this season to score five or more points in a game, joining Johnny Gaudreau (six against the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday) and Sean Monahan (five against the Sharks on Dec. 31). … Gaudreau has four goals in the past two games after not scoring in nine straight. … Rangers forward Ryan Strome had an assist and has four points (two goals, two assists) in his past four games. ... Monahan left the game after the first period because of illness and will not play at the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday.

What's next

Rangers: At the Minnesota Wild on Saturday (8 p.m. ET; FS-N, FS-WI, MSG, NHL.TV)
Flames: At the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; ESPN+, SNW, SNP, NHL.TV)