RANGERS VS FLAMES GAME DAY PREVIEW 10/21

Rangers Host Flames at the Garden

New York Rangers (2-4-1) vs Calgary Flames (4-3-0)

Madison Square Garden, NYC

TONIGHT 7:00 PM (US-EST) , TV: MSG, R360 ... Radio: ESPN-NY 98.7 FM

Both teams come in to tonight's contest having lost their previous games, the Rangers fell to the host Washington Capitals 4-3 in overtime on Wednesday. The Flames dropped a 5-3 decision to the visiting Nashville Predators on Friday.

Henrik Lundqvist and Mike Smith will get the starts. Lundqvist is 8-3-0 in 11 career games against the Flames. Smith is 5-12-2 in 20 career appearances against the Rangers.

Rangers defenseman Freddie Claesson is likely to miss Sunday's game after suffering an upper-body injury during practice Saturday.

This is the first of two meetings this season between New York and Calgary. The Rangers won the season series last year 2-0. The first win came with 4-3 home ice win , power play goals from Kevin Hayes & Mika Zibanejad. Henrik Lundqvist stopped 30 of 32 shots to garner the victory. In the second game in Calgary 3-1, Henrik Lundqvist stopped 51 of 52 shots for the win, Kevin Hayes, Pavel Buchnevich and newly acquired Ryan Spooner tallied the Rangers goals.

Rangers vs Calgary All-Time Record
Overall. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47-54-15-1 (110 pts)
Home Record. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32-24-5-0 (69 pts)
Road Record. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15-30-10-1 (41 pts)
Goals For. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 375
Goals Against. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 438
Shutouts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4, last – 2/24/2015 (1-0; Talbot)
Last Flame Win at MSG. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12/7/2008 (3-0)

Rangers Probable Lineup vs Calgary:

Forwards:
Chris Kreider-Mika Zibanejad-Jesper Fast
Filip Chytil-Kevin Hayes-Mats Zuccarello
Jimmy Vesey-Brett Howden-Vladislav Namestnikov
Pavel Buchnevich-Ryan Spooner-Vini Lettieri

Defense:
Brady Skjei - Neal Pionk
Marc Staal - Brendan Snith
Kevin Shattenkirk - Adam McQuaid

Starter:
Henrik Lundqvist

Back Up:
Marek Mazanec

Scratches:
Cody McLeod, Tony DeAngelo

Injuries:
Matt Beleskey (Shoulder), Boo Nieves (Concussion Protocol), Freddie Claesson (upper body)