Zary breaks tie in 3rd, Flames hang on to defeat Rangers for 3rd straight win

CALGARY -- Connor Zary scored midway through the third period, and the Calgary Flames hung on to win 3-2 against the New York Rangers at Scotiabank Saddledome on Thursday.

Zary’s wrist shot from a sharp angle off the rush beat Igor Shesterkin short side over his right shoulder at 10:35.

"I don't know who was on my hip, but I could feel someone, so I just tried to lean in and get towards the net and ended up putting it on net and got lucky and got up high and the rest is history," said Zary, who had one goal in his previous 16 games.

Matt Coronato and Yegor Sharangovich each had a goal and an assist, and MacKenzie Weegar had three assists for the Flames (11-6-3), who have won three straight and have points in seven of eight (5-1-2). Dustin Wolf made 27 saves.

"We've established an identity, which is big for our group," Weegar said. "I think coming into the Saddledome now it's hard to play against our group. We've got forwards tracking and forechecking hard and ‘D’ are in your face and goalies are kicking. We have an identity, and I love to see it."

Alexis Lafreniere and Will Cuylle scored, and Shesterkin tied his career high with 46 saves for the Rangers (12-5-1), who had their three-game winning streak end.

"Not our best game," New York captain Jacob Trouba said. "I don't think we really got to our top game. We're playing pretty well on the road trip, had one get away from us. Regroup and we still have a chance at a great road trip."

Coronato gave Calgary a 1-0 lead 7:26 into the first period. He scored with a snap shot from inside the left face-off circle that beat Shesterkin through a partial screen.

The goal came during a 20-shot first period for the Flames, who reached that mark for the first time since Oct. 25, 2022, against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

"Probably one of the best first periods all year," Flames forward Jonathan Huberdeau said. "We were all over them. Obviously it's tough to play like that 60 minutes, but I think we did a pretty good job and came out with another win."

Sharangovich, in his 300th NHL game, made it 2-0 on the power play at 8:29 of the second period when he one-timed a pass from Weegar over Shesterkin's blocker from the right circle. The Rangers unsuccessfully challenged the goal, suggesting that Huberdeau played the puck with a hand pass before the goal.

"I don't know the exact definition of the rule," Trouba said. "I thought it was definitely worth a challenge. It seems pucks hit gloves that are kind of up in the air and deemed a hand pass. They reviewed it and made what they deemed was the correct call and there's nothing we can do about it."

Lafreniere cut the lead to 2-1 at 16:37. Wolf made the initial stop on a point shot from Trouba, but Lafreniere lifted the rebound off the post and in.

Cuylle scored 16 seconds later to tie it 2-2 when his deflection on K'Andre Miller's point shot caused the puck to skip over Wolf's right pad.

"They came out hard and were all over us," Rangers defenseman Ryan Lindgren said. "They were forechecking us hard. We didn't do a good job of getting the puck out. When we did get it out, we weren't getting it in, we were turning it over and they were coming right back at us. Definitely not the way we want to start the game. It's tough to come back like that. We fought, ended up tying it up, but didn't get it done in the third."

NOTES: Calgary has won four straight at home and is 5-1-0 against Metropolitan Division opponents this season. … Huberdeau earned an assist on Zary's goal, his 500th in the NHL. He's the third player from the 2011 NHL Draft to reach the mark, joining Nikita Kucherov (568) and the late Johnny Gaudreau (500). ... Cuylle has four points (two goals, two assists) during a three-game point streak.