Craig Conroy, left, tries to get the puck past New York Rangers' Daniel Girardi during the first period of the Flames' 3-0 win on Sunday. (Seth Wenig/Associated Press)

The NHL's busiest goaltenders went mask-to-mask on Sunday night at Madison Square Garden, and it was Miikka Kiprusoff who earned the decision.

Calgary's hard-working keeper stopped 31shots on the way to a 3-0 victory over Henrik Lundqvist and the New York Rangers, giving the visitors seven wins in their last nine games (16-10-1 overall) and a share of first place in the Northwest Division with Vancouver.

Both goalkeepers were in their 26th starts of the season but it was Kiprusoff who came up with his third shutout of the campaign and 29th in his career.

"I like to play," Kiprusoff said afterwards. "I'm kind of used to it now and I know what I have to do to get ready night after night."

Jarome Iginla with No. 14, David Moss (who has one in four straight games ) and René Bourque, both with their eighth, scored for the Flames who were badly outshot for the first two periods (22-9) before finding their skates in the third.

Bounces go Calgary's way

Leading 1-0, the Flames picked up all they needed to wrap this one up early in the final frame.

After a strong rush into the Rangers zone, the puck went to the net about the same time as Calgary's David Moss, who was able to jam it by Lundqvist and off the far post and just in.

Kiprusoff, who had already been excellent all night, came to the fore again from there as the Rangers made a final try to get something going.

That led to Bourque's late goal, set up because New York, on the power play, pinched a little too hard and allowed the Flames' winger to cut across the neutral zone and take off down the left wing.

He put a hard slapper on Lundqvist and the rebound went to the corner where Bourque picked it up, circled the net to his left and came out front for a wrist shot that beat the Rangers' keeper with two minutes to go.

Flames batting .500 in the second

After a scoreless first period that saw the Flames outshot 11-7, the visitors pretty much put their offence into hibernation for the first 15 minutes of the middle frame.

That left Kiprusoff to do his thing, playing the angles, standing up to shots, flopping around when called for — as the Rangers tossed another 11 tries his way.

"They started hard, but we were ready anyway and we were able to keep it a close game all the way," said Kiprusoff, who has started all but one of the Flames' 27 games.

Calgary had just two shots in the second, but one of them came up roses, thanks to a nice little bounce to Iginla.

Coming in on a four-on-two, Dion Phaneuf put a hard shot low on Lundqvist that popped back out on the rebound.

The puck squirted loose to Iginla, standing on the right side of the crease, and he had a yawning hole to put the shot through for the captain's 14th goal of the season.

Scott Gomez, who missed a couple of his own chances, wasn't happy with his team's effort on the night.

"We're not playing well," the Rangers' forward said. "We just have to put together a 60-minute game.

"We have to find a way. It wasn't good enough."