Goalie blows out Flames with 50 saves on 36th birthday

Isles iced by Habs; Devs fall to Canes

CALGARY — Henrik Lundqvist’s competitive drive was as strong Friday on his 36th birthday as it’s been at any point in his career. Rangers management may have sacrificed the rest of this season for the betterment of the club’s future, but don’t try to tell Lundqvist these games don’t matter.

Bombarded by shots once again, Lundqvist made 50 saves for the second straight game in the Rangers’ 3-1 win over the Flames, none more sterling than his robbery of Mikael Backlund 42 seconds into the second period with his right hand after dropping his stick on a tic-tac-toe play by Calgary.

“Obviously, it’s unbelievable,” Mats Zuccarello told the Daily News. “I expect him to make those saves. He’s from Scandinavia, Europe. We play soccer over there.”

Calgary attempted a tic-tactoe play and Lundqvist was moving to his left just as the puck was sent across to the opposite circle. With his stick on the ice, Lundqvist quickly dove to his right and stopped Backlund’s shot with the underside of his blocker where there’s no protection. He favored his right hand after the shot but remained in the game after having cooling spray applied by trainer Jim Ramsay.

“When it happens that quickly, you don’t have time to think,” Lundqvist said. “You just react and improvise. Right now, there’s so many situations like that where you have to improvise. There’s no textbook. You have to battle.”

By making 50 saves on 51 shots, Lundqvist became the first Rangers goaltender to make at least 50 saves in consecutive games since Gump Worsley on Jan. 27 and 30, 1963. He’s also the first goalie in NHL history to make 50 saves in consecutive games and earn a win in each. It’s the first time Lundqvist made 50 saves in regulation.

Ryan Spooner continued his impressive run since coming over Sunday from the Bruins in the Rick Nash trade, scoring his first Rangers goal and adding another assist. He has seven points in three games with the club, recording multiple points in three consecutive games for the first time in his career.

His assist led to Kevin Hayes’ career-high 18th goal of the season. Spooner fired a puck on net immediately upon puck drop on an offensive-zone draw and Hayes cleaned up a loose puck underneath Flames goalie Jon Gilles for the opening goal. Twelve seconds after Lundqvist’s right-hand save, Pavel Buchnevich put the Blueshirts up 2-1.

The Rangers are 2-0 A.D. (After Deadline) and if Columbus lost late Friday night the Blueshirts would be five points out of a wild-card spot. They’re rebuilding for the future, but the remaining players aren’t content to just let the season end with a thud.

“Everyone’s writing us down in a way,” Zuccarello told The News. “Management’s been kind of rebuilding and all that, so we have nothing to lose. Go out, have fun, play and try to win. No pressure. Just go out, play your game, have some fun.”

It helps to have Lundqvist back in vintage form. “1-0 as a 36-year-old,” Lundqvist said smiling. ALEX GALCHENYUK completed his hat trick shortly after Paul Byron and Noah Juulsen scored 1:43 apart in the third period, lifting the Montreal Canadiens over the New York Islanders 6-3 on Friday night at Barclays Center.

New York dropped to 2929-7 with its fifth straight loss.

Tanner Fritz, Josh Bailey and Brock Nelson scored, and Jaroslav Halak made 19 saves.

The Islanders entered the game trailing Columbus by four points for the final Eastern Conference wild card. However, New York has lost 27 of 41 (14-22-5) since Dec. 1.

HURRICANES 3, DEVILS 1: Teuvo Teravainen and Justin Williams scored in the third period and the Carolina Hurricanes overcame yet another goal by New Jersey’s Taylor Hall to beat the visiting Devils.

Teravainen’s redirection at 9:37 of the third period made it 2-1, and Williams added an empty-net goal with 21 seconds remaining.

Hall’s second-period goal extended his point streak to 24 games. He has scored in six of his last seven games, and 17 of his 29 goals have come since Jan. 1.

Keith Kincaid made 27 saves for the Devils, who dropped both games of a back-to-back road set. —AP