Gustafsson has goal, assist in Rangers win against Flames

CALGARY -- Erik Gustafsson had a goal and an assist, and Igor Shesterkin made 24 saves for the New York Rangers in a 3-1 win against the Calgary Flames at Scotiabank Saddledome on Tuesday.

Chris Kreider and Alexis Lafreniere scored for the Rangers (4-2-0), who have won three of four, and the first two of a season-long five-game road trip. Filip Chytil had two assists.

"I think we got off to a little bit of a slow start, but after that we played well," Lafreniere said. "It wasn't pretty at times, but we got the job done -- two big points."

Blake Coleman scored, and Jacob Markstrom made 17 saves for the Flames (2-4-1), who have lost three in a row and five of six.

"I don't think there's concern in the group that we have," Coleman said. "I think there's concern in the results and I think there's concern in just it’s just another game we had a great start to and let get away. At the end of the day, losing's got to keep you up at night. I know it's easy to say, but I'm sick of losing.

“I think I can speak for the guys in the room [that] we're sick of losing. It burns me up. You've got to be one of those guys that hates to lose more than win, and I think as a group we've got to have way more fire."

Coleman gave Calgary a 1-0 lead 1:15 into the first period, beating Shesterkin with a wrist shot blocker side on a setup by Mikael Backlund.

Shesterkin made a right-toe save on Coleman at 4:51 of the second period, and Lafreniere tied it 1-1 at 7:38 on the power play when he tipped Gustafsson's point shot past Markstrom.

"Just a good zone entry and a nice shot by 'Gus,'" Lafreniere said. "Just tried to get a stick on it and I was lucky enough it went in."

Kreider also scored a power-play goal, putting New York ahead 2-1 at 14:09 after redirecting Panarin's shot short side over Markstrom's shoulder. Panarin extended his point streak to six games with the assist.

The Rangers have scored at least one power-play goal in five of six games to start the season.

"It's coming," Kreider said. "We're building some stuff, some stuff we want to work on. Each game presents a different challenge, different kill, different opportunities at different times."

Gustafsson extended it to 3-1 at 16:53 on a 4-on-4 when he poked a loose puck over the goal line after Chytil’s initial shot trickled under the arm of Markstrom.

"Just a tough second period," Flames captain Mikael Backlund said. "We came out, played well in the first, especially the first half of the first, and then we let them come into the game and they took over and they carried it a little bit in the second."

Shesterkin made a sprawling pad save on Jonathan Huberdeau at 9:31 of the third period on a backdoor setup from Elias Lindholm.

Shesterkin also stopped Nazem Kadri's wrist shot at 17:58 to help preserve the win for New York.

"The only guys that are going to get us out of this rut are the 20 guys that are in this room," Calgary defenseman MacKenzie Weegar said. "We've got to work hard. I've said this all along. We've got the compete, we've got the effort in here, we've got the guys. We're just in a bit of a slump; it came early. I believe we can get out of it. But it's going to take hard work and we've got to put an end to it ASAP."

Flames forward Adam Ruzicka sustained an apparent upper-body injury at 18:32 of the first period on a hit by Rangers forward Jimmy Vesey and did not return.

NOTES: Kreider has five goals in six games to start the season. He needs three more to tie Andy Bathgate for fourth-most in Rangers history. ... Panarin has eight points (three goals, five assists) during his 6-game point streak. ... Coleman's goal was his 200th point in the NHL. He is the third Texas-born NHL player to eclipse 200 points, joining Brian Leetch (1,028) and Seth Jones (377). ... Chytil has five assists in his past two games. ... There was no update on Ruzicka postgame.