Zibanejad Scores Twice as the Rangers Win Their Last Visit to the Saddledome, 3-1

Old arenas hold long memories, and the Saddledome has handed the New York Rangers more bad ones than good. On Wednesday night, in their final scheduled visit to Calgary's 43-year-old building, the Rangers finally left with a good one.

Mika Zibanejad scored twice, once at even strength and once on the power play, and Joonas Korpisalo made 29 saves as New York beat the Calgary Flames 3-1. Tye Kartye added an empty-net goal with 6.5 seconds left. The win was the Rangers' fourth in five games and lifted them to 11-8-1, while Calgary fell to 8-10-1.

Zibanejad came into the night under the microscope for his goal scoring, and the New York Post framed his two-goal game as the end of a slump. It took him just 59 seconds of the second period to change the conversation. After a scoreless first, he opened the scoring on a play that ended with the puck caroming in off Calgary goaltender Devin Cooley.

His second goal was the prettier one. With former Ranger Ryan Strome in the penalty box for holding, Pavel Dorofeyev slid a cross-ice pass to Zibanejad, who buried a one-timer at 10:52 of the second period for a 2-0 lead. Alexis Lafreniere finished with two assists.

That early cushion mattered. Forever Blueshirts noted the Rangers are now 11-1-0 this season when they score first. A team that knows how to protect a lead is a team that knows its jobs, and this group has made a habit of it.

Korpisalo, making only his second start of the season according to Blueshirt Banter, was the reason that lead held up. He turned away early chances from Calgary's Zayne Parekh and Matvei Gridin in the first period, stopped a 3-on-2 rush late in the second and denied Strome three times from close range.

Calgary finally broke through at 7:41 of the third. After Vladislav Gavrikov was called for holding, Adam Klapka finished a feed from Strome in the dying seconds of the power play to make it 2-1. The Flames pulled Cooley for an extra attacker with 1:40 to go, but the Rangers held firm, and Kartye sealed it into the empty net. Cooley finished with 21 saves.

Glenn Gawdin made his Rangers debut as the fourth-line center. It was the 14th NHL game of his career and his first since March 6, 2024. Stories like that are part of what makes hockey special: a player who waited more than two and a half years between NHL games kept working and earned another shot.

Dorofeyev, meanwhile, rang another shot off the iron. Blueshirt Banter counted it as his eighth post of the season, the most in the league. Defenseman Adam Fox heard boos from the Calgary crowd.

Coach Mike Sullivan pointed to his team's effort afterward. "This group is a fun group to coach because they compete all the time," he said, according to Forever Blueshirts. That is about the highest praise a coach can give in a sport where talent is everywhere and work ethic is what separates teams over an 82-game season.

The Flames will move next season into Scotia Place, their new arena across the street. The Saddledome opened in 1983, and it has rarely been kind to New York. Forever Blueshirts put the Rangers' all-time record in the building at 10-21-2 with four ties, and noted that Calgary had won six of the previous seven meetings there. Closing the book with a win is a small thing in the standings, but it is the kind of thing longtime fans remember.

The Rangers, 2-1-0 on their four-game road trip, finish it Friday in Vancouver against a Canucks team that Forever Blueshirts called the NHL's worst at 3-16-1. It is the kind of game that tests discipline more than skill. Good teams take care of business against struggling opponents, and a win would send New York home with a winning trip and real momentum.

Calgary heads to Los Angeles to face the Kings on Saturday night. The Flames had their chances on Wednesday, but Korpisalo had an answer for nearly all of them.