Rangers roll past Flames

CALGARY --Michael Grabner scored his eighth goal of the season and Henrik Lundqvist made 35 saves to help the New York Rangers to a 4-1 win against the Calgary Flames at Scotiabank Saddledome on Saturday.
Derek Stepan, Jimmy Vesey and Pavel Buchnevich scored for the Rangers (11-4-0), who have won six of the past seven games. New York leads the NHL with 62 goals, and has scored four or more goals in 10 of its first 15 games for the fifth time in its history.

"It's impressive to see how we create chances every game," Lundqvist said. "Sometimes it's tough against different lineups, different systems, but we've been able to create a lot of scoring chances. Even the games we haven't scored a lot, we've had a lot of chances to do so. It gives the team a lot of confidence knowing we can score if we really have to."
Micheal Ferland scored and Brian Elliott made 24 saves for the Flames (5-10-1), who have lost four in a row and six of their past seven games.
WATCH: All Rangers vs. Flames highlights
"Everybody's a good hockey player in here," Elliott said. "It's about coming together and playing as a team and not getting down. The key to confidence is keeping each other up and (if) things don't go your way, keep pushing. You keep pushing and you don't give up."
Grabner scored 6:32 into the first period. Off the rush, he put a shot short side from just inside the circle by Elliott's glove to give the Rangers a 1-0 lead. He leads the NHL with eight even-strength goals.

"We're playing a fast game," said Grabner, who had nine goals in 80 games with the Toronto Maple Leafs last season. "That works in my favor. I've been clicking with my linemates ... the guys I've played with. I've had a few different linemates and I seem to be going well with each one of them."
Stepan made it 2-0 with his second goal of the season at 11:59.
The Rangers scored two more goals in the second period. Ryan McDonagh sent a cross-ice feed past two defenders that Jimmy Vesey redirected between Elliott's legs to give New York a 3-0 lead at 9:26, and Buchnevich beat Elliott with a one-timer to complete a three-way passing play at 14:22.

Ferland redirected TJ Brodie's centering pass behind Lundqvist to make it 4-1 at 11:12 of the third period. The goal was Calgary's first power-play goal on home ice this season in 29 attempts.

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Goal of the game

Buchnevich scored for the fourth straight game after completing a three-way setup started by Mika Zibanejad. Zibanejad gathered his own rebound and passed into the slot to Mats Zuccarello, who slid another pass across that Buchnevich one-timed by Elliott.

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Save of the game

Lundqvist got his glove on a wrist shot on Johnny Gaudreau's breakaway attempt with 1:02 remaining in the first period to keep the Rangers up 2-0. "He's making key saves, especially early in the year and early in games," Grabner said. "He was making some big saves for us and getting us going. He's one of the best goalies in the world."

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Unsung moment of the game

Rangers forward J.T. Miller blocked two shots and deflected a backdoor pass through the slot to the boards before clearing the puck on a penalty kill with New York up 4-0 midway through the third period.

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Highlight of the game

Stepan finished a quick give-and-go with Chris Kreider by shooting by Elliott and into a virtually empty net at 11:59 of the first period to give New York a 2-0 lead.

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They said it

"I think the most important thing is for us to understand why we're scoring. We take care of our own end. We have a lot of close support. That's where it starts ... how you break out. When you understand you can't cheat, you have to do things right in your own end, good things will happen. You just have to trust your instincts, your skill. We have four lines going right now." -- Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist

"They're a good team, but I mean, we're a really good team too. We just get too down on ourselves right now. They scored one early. We've got to keep that thought, like not the same old song and dance out of our head." -- Flames defenseman Brett Kulak

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Need to know

Lundqvist is 7-1-0 with a 1.88 goals-against average and a .934 save percentage in his past eight starts. ... Rangers defenseman Brady Skjei's six-game point streak ended. He was New York's first rookie defenseman to have a six-game point streak since Brian Leetch (Feb. 17-Mar. 1, 1989). ... Flames defenseman Dennis Wideman, who had an assist on Ferland's goal, was back in the lineup after being a healthy scratch the previous four games.

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What's next

Rangers: At the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday (9:30 p.m. ET; SN1, MSG,
NHL.TV
)
Flames: At the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday (8 p.m. ET; FS-N, FS-WI, SNW,
NHL.TV
)