NHL: Alexis Lafreniere's hat trick sparks Rangers in shutout of Flames

Alexis Lafreniere scored a hat trick, and goaltender Jonathan Quick recorded his 65th career shutout as the New York Rangers defeated the Calgary Flames 4-0 on Tuesday at Madison Square Garden.

Conor Sheary also found the back of the net, while Mika Zibanejad collected two assists, giving him five points (two goals, three assists) in his last two games. Gabe Perreault added a pair of assists.

Quick made 21 saves to earn his second shutout of the season. Although he was not as busy as his counterpart, Quick delivered several key stops, including turning aside two point-blank opportunities by Matt Coronato in the third period.

Despite sitting at the bottom of the Eastern Conference, the Rangers have posted a 4-1-2 record in their past seven games.

Flames goaltender Dustin Wolf stopped 26 shots, but Calgary continues to struggle on the road, holding the league’s worst road record and ranking ahead of only the Vancouver Canucks in the overall standings.

After a quiet opening period, Lafreniere opened the scoring at 17:27 of the first period with a 5-on-3 power-play goal, redirecting Zibanejad’s shot from the point. With the assists, Zibanejad reached 800 career points, and defenseman Adam Fox, originally drafted by the Flames, collected his 400th career point.

Sheary’s second goal of the season came at 10:28 of the second period, a tap-in finish set up by Tye Kartye, doubling the Rangers’ lead. Four minutes later, Lafreniere made it 3-0 with a wide-open chance, finishing a play set up by Perreault.

Lafreniere completed his second career hat trick with a one-timer to finish a 2-on-1 rush with Perreault with 2:18 left in the game. Lafreniere has tallied five goals and four assists in his last five games.

Calgary has lost the first two games of a five-game road trip and has won only four of its past 16 contests (4-9-3).

—Field Level Media/Reuters