New York @ Calgary preview

Last Meeting ( Oct 21, 2018 ) Calgary 4, NY Rangers 1

The Calgary Flames answered a four-game skid in which they mustered just five goals by igniting their offense for 15 to record back-to-back victories in their last two contests. The Flames look to continue their torrid stretch on Friday when they conclude their three-game homestand against the New York Rangers.

Johnny Gaudreau broke out of an offensive slump in a big way in Tuesday's 9-4 triumph over New Jersey, highlighting his career-high six-point performance with three goals after being held to just one tally in his previous 19 contests. The 25-year-old, who has a career-high 33 goals, scored twice and David Rittich turned aside 44 shots in Calgary's 4-1 victory versus New York on Oct. 21. The Rangers fell to 10-2-1 in their last 13 meetings with the Flames after that contest, but their overall record of late with eight losses in nine games (1-3-5) leaves plenty to be desired. Chris Kreider, Gaudreau's former teammate with 2012 NCAA champion Boston College, was ejected following a misconduct penalty and Henrik Lundqvist was denied in his bid for his 450th win in Wednesday's 4-1 setback versus Vancouver.

TV: 9 p.m. ET, MSG2 (New York), Sportsnet West (Calgary)

ABOUT THE RANGERS (28-29-13): Pavel Buchnevich scored a power-play goal to boost his point total to 13 (seven goals, six assists) in his last 18 games. Mika Zibanejad has three assists in his last three contests to take away part of the sting of being mired in a seven-game goal drought, although he did net his team's lone goal in the previous encounter versus Calgary. Defenseman Tony DeAngelo also set up Buchnevich's tally to give him 12 of his career-high 22 assists in his last 14 contests.

ABOUT THE FLAMES (43-20-7): After the 3M Line of Matthew Tkachuk, Mikael Backlund and Michael Frolik combined for 11 points in Sunday's 6-3 victory versus Vegas, the top line of Gaudreau, Sean Monahan and Elias Lindholm totaled 14 -- with the latter two players each scoring a goal and setting up three others. Tuesday's uprising was a welcome one considering Gaudreau had just one tally since the All-Star break while Monahan (one goal in previous 13 games) and Elias Lindholm (one goal in previous 12 contests) also struggled. "Our line, it's been a tough month for us, but we work hard, we're a good line, we've got good chemistry and we're three pretty good friends," Gaudreau said.

OVERTIME

1. Kreider, who was fined $5,000 by the NHL for elbowing Canucks rookie Elias Pettersson on Thursday, has two points -- both assists -- in his last eight games.

2. Calgary RW Garnet Hathaway has just five goals since scoring twice versus New York in the previous contest.

3. The Rangers have thwarted 21 of their opponents' 24 power-play opportunities over the last seven games and have scored 15 times with the man advantage in their last 25 contests.

PREDICTION: Flames 4, Rangers 1