Well, this is certainly a way to challenge a hot streak. The Detroit Red Wings (11-6-3), who have won three straight games after a rough trip to Sweden, will be taking on the NHL’s leader in points percentage, the New York Rangers (15-4-1) on the road at Madison Square Garden. It’s the second time these two teams will face off this season with the previous matchup going the way of the Rangers in a game that, frankly, wasn’t nearly as close as the 5-3 final. They’ll also be going into this game without captain Dylan Larkin, who is out with an undisclosed injury.
However, the Red Wings are playing their best hockey since the start of the season with three wins in a row by a combined score of 13-3. One of the biggest parts of that streak has been the offensive play of Shayne Gostisbehere, who has six points in the last two games including a four point night against Minnesota on Monday. He’ll look to play a big part in tonight’s game as well as they’re playing one of the best defensive teams in the entire NHL. On the other side, the Red Wings will have to look out for the duo of Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad who always seem to have their number. Stopping that duo, especially with the man advantage, will be key to this game.
In goal, Ville Husso (7-3-1) will start for Detroit. He was solid in his last start between the pipes against Boston, stopping 27 of 29 shots in a 5-2 win. It hasn’t been the best season so far for Husso so you’ll hope to see some continued good play from the Finnish netminder. As for the Rangers, they will start Igor Shesterkin (8-4-0) who is coming off a tough game on Monday against the Buffalo Sabres. The Rangers allowed 38 shots his way in a 5-1 loss and he’s gonna hope his team gives him some better support tonight. With that being said, let’s get into it.
1st Period
The first stretch of play goes into the Rangers defensive end and Robby Fabbri throws a massive check on Vincent Trocheck. However, the Red Wings send the Rangers on the power play very early on due to a hooking penalty on David Perron. The Rangers immediately threaten as Zibanejad rifles one off the iron. They get another chance shortly after as Chris Kreider threatens in the right circle but Husso makes the save.
There’s a faceoff to the left of Husso when Joe Veleno takes a cross-check right to the mouth. Somehow, there is no call and the Rangers power play continues. They throw a couple more shots at Husso but neither threaten. The power play ends with four shots on goal, all saves by Husso, and a shot off the post. The teams go back and forth with neither able to hold possession longer than 15 seconds. Outside of a Zibanejad shot off a two-on-two, neither team is able to create a chance for several minutes.
Eight minutes into the period, we still haven’t gotten a media timeout. Shots are 6-2 and have been that for the last five minutes of play now. The Red Wings finally get their first chance right before the 11-minute mark as Christian Fischer finds a streaking Daniel Sprong, but Shesterkin and Trouba each make good saves. Immediately after, Alexis Lafreniere finds Artemi Panarin back door but he misses wide. Finally, a Mo Seider shot ends up in the netting and nearly ten minutes into the first, we finally have our first media timeout.
About a minute out of the break, Olli Määttä picks up a hooking penalty to once again send the Rangers on the powerplay. We head into the second media timeout with the Red Wings being a man down. We come back from the break and the Rangers have had a shot on goal removed so it’s currently 5-4, Rangers. The Red Wings penalty kill gets off to a bit of a better start. They actually manage to get a couple of clearances early on to avoid any scary chances from the first unit. There’s another questionable missed call as Panarin gave Jake Walman a bit of a cross-check from behind but again, no call.
The Rangers finally get a great chance on the power play with about 30 seconds yet. Lafreniere fires a backhand from the right circle that deflects off a skate and Husso cleans it up and clears out a rebound. The penalty kill comes to a close with three shots on goal for the Rangers. Just as the Wings get to full strength however, the Rangers get another great chance in front that Husso once against clears out. The Rangers have pretty much full control of this game when Jimmy Vesey picks up a tripping penalty to send the Red Wings on their first power play of the game after the final media timeout of the period.
Gotisbehere immediately rips a clapper from the point and misses wide. Shortly after, the Rangers clear out the zone. They’re unable to get the puck back in the zone and an offsides call takes the first power play off the ice. There’s some ok puck movement from the second unit but no chances at the net. The power play comes to an end with only one shot on goal listed which likely means the Gostisbehere shot actually hit the net.
There’s more back and forth hockey with neither team able to keep possession over the next couple of minutes. It feels like every time the Red Wings might get a good chance, they can’t get a shot off. There’s finally a chance for the Red Wings with 15 seconds remaining as a neutral zone loose puck leads to Alex DeBrincat getting the puck in the left circle. However, he shoots it right at Shesterkin who makes an easy save to end the period.
Shots on goal for the period were 10-6 in favor of the Rangers. The Red Wings managed to keep New York without a shot over the last seven minutes of the period or so but they are yet to truly threaten Igor Shesterkin at all. Meanwhile, a hit post and a couple nice saves by Ville Husso have kept the Rangers off the scoresheet to leave the game at 0-0.
The puck movement from the Red Wings just hasn’t been there. The lanes are being filled and they’re not finding open lanes. They’re also not creating any rushes either which leads to a sluggish period. That being said, they’ve been preventing second chances from the Rangers and have only allowed four shots on goal at even strength. They need more of that but they can’t just rely on the shooters of New York failing to shoot.
2nd Period
They’ve added a shot back on the board to start the period for each team so shots are now 11-7 after one. The Red Wings start to get their first real sustained pressure immediately after. There’s a great chance started by Jonatan Berggren. Gostisbehere gets a shot that gets tipped in front by Fabbri but another save is made by Shesterkin. They continue to keep up the pressure and Gostisbehere rifles another shot that goes wide.
A couple of minutes later, the Red Wings get another great chance. Sprong starts the play from behind the net and Christian Fischer gets a great chance at the top of the slot. The rebound goes to Sprong who has an excellent chance but misses the net wide. This is the best Detroit has looked all game here four minutes into the second period. As I say that, there’s a really bad turnover by Gostisbehere in the neutral zone. Lafreniere gets the puck from K’Andre Miller who fires a perfect pass to Panarin in the right circle. Husso doesn’t stand a chance as Panarin rips a wrister just under the crossbar. 1-0 Rangers with 15:23 left in the second.
That is deflating. It was some great puck movement by Detroit for a while there and it’s a turnover that does them in and gives New York the lead. The Rangers then take control of play for the next couple of minutes, moving the puck well but unable to break the Red Wings compact defense. That control comes to an end as Panarin picks up a roughing penalty with 13:06 left in the period to send the Red Wings on their second power play after the first media timeout.
The Red Wings immediately clear the puck out of their own zone to start the power play. Much like their first power play, they just can’t find a way to set up in the offensive zone and in fact, Zibanejad gets a shot on goal before the Red Wings even get a chance to create one. A scary moment happens as the Rangers threaten a two-on-one rush, but a turnover stops the chance.
The Red Wings finally get set up in the offensive zone and the puck starts with Fabbri in the corner. He puts it up the boards to Andrew Copp who then feeds it to Seider. Seider walks the line, fires a wrist shot AND HE SCORES!! MO SEIDER TIES THE GAME, 1-1 ON THE POWER PLAY WITH 11:18 LEFT IN THE SECOND!!!
All it took was once chance and the Red Wings tie up the game. Right after the play, and I mean right after, there’s a weird play in the Rangers end where the puck is just kind of bouncing around and no noe is getting control. Then, Berggren finds the puck and hands it Fabbri who takes a wrist shot from the slot AND PUTS IT OVER SHESTERKIN’S SHOULDER!! MY LORD, TWO GOALS IN 23 SECONDS AND JUST LIKE THAT IT’S 2-1 RED WINGS!!!
Copp gets a second assist on that goal and Fabbri gets his fifth goal of the season. Seider’s goal was his third of the year and just like that, the team that’s been getting outplayed has the lead. Somewhere in the aftermath, the Rangers do get a good chance and Husso makes a good save. A couple of minutes later, Lucas Raymond is skating through the Rangers zone when Trocheck gets him with a knee on knee hit. Compher goes after Trocheck but the Red Wings will still come away with their third power play of the game following the second media timeout.
The power play starts with the best sustained possession that Detroit has had on a power play yet. 40 seconds of possession with good puck movement leading to a shot for DeBrincat backdoor but he gets stopped by Shesterkin. The Rangers then follow this up with a two-on-one rush headed by Zibanejad who makes a nice sauce pass but they can’t get the shot on target. This is immediately followed by a two-on-one for DeBrincat and Perron with the latter firing a shot off the post. The power play comes to and end and it was definitely the most threatening they have looked on a power play yet (even though they literally scored on one of the previous ones).
There’s another solid chance around the six minute mark for Detroit as DeBrincat ends up spinning with the puck in the slot, but he can’t get the shot through. A couple of minutes later, the Rangers get another great rush forward after a fantastic play by Panarinto prevent Walman from stealing the puck. However, despite the great chance, they’re unable to put a puck on target again. The Red Wings get a chance at another odd man rush but end up offside to send us into the final media timeout of the second. 2-1 Red Wings with the shots currently 19-16 for New York.
The Red WIngs get a solid chance back from the break. Some great movement by Gostisbehere and Raymond sets up Berggren who misses the net. Shortly after, the Rangers get their first shot on goal in over seven minutes as Braden Schneider gets a good look from the right point but Husso makes the blocker save. The graphic comes up that the Red Wings are leading the second period scoring chances, 9-4 and it has felt like it lately.
The Rangers get two more great chances in the final minute and a half of the period, both created by Artemi Panarin. First he creates a chance for himself but gets stopped by Husso. Then, he finds Blake Wheeler with a sick redirection with his skate but Husso again comes up big. There’s one last chance from Zibanejad that gets stopped and the period comes to a close. 2-1 Red Wings after two periods.
Shots on goal were 11-10 in favor of the Rangers, but that doesn’t tell the full story of the period. The Rangers only had control for the three minutes following their first goal where they peppered Husso with chances. But, following the Panarin penalty, the Red Wings took back control and didn’t really relinquish it until the final two minutes of the period. You hope to see more of the improved puck movement but the turnovers need to be kept in check. The Red Wings have done a good job staying compact in the defensive zone which has basically left the Rangers to only get good chances off of rushes. We’ll see if Detroit can limit it in the third.
3rd Period
The Red Wings get a fantastic chance immediately to start the period. Lucas Raymond leads a rush up and makes a gorgeous cross-ice pass to JT Compher but Shesterkin makes a gorgeous glove save. An interesting stat just shown on the broadcast, the Red Wings are 9-1-0 when leading after two periods while the Rangers are just 1-3-0. So you know, surely that won’t curse anything going forward with this game.
A little over two minutes into the third, Gostisbehere gets drilled from behind by Will Cuylle and Klim Kostin comes in and dropps the gloves to lay a couple of punches into Cuylle. We get a four-on-four as they did give a boarding penalty to Cuylle but Kostin got himself a roughing minor. Gostisbehere ends up leaving the game and we’ll see if it’s just a precaution or if it’s something worse.
The Rangers get a great chance on the four-on-four but Husso makes the toe save on Kreider. They then get another fantastic chance at the end of the four-on-four after a great team passing play in the offensive zone but somehow, Trocheck completely missed a wide open net. This just feels like chance after chance for both teams as the Red Wings get another chance but miss the net themselves. Then, a stick from Cuylle catches Raymond in the mouth and appears to be a double minor. However, Raymond very clearly grabbed Cuylle’s stick and hits himself in the mouth with it and the penalty is rescinded. Yeah, that’s the right call to be honest but wow, I’ve never seen something like that.
I’m kind of just baffled by everything I just saw happen. The review exists for high stick to check what level of penalty it should be, but I’ve never seen a penalty get rescinded like that. Otherwise, we could just reveiw every penalty. Regardless, we move on. Each team gets a couple of shots on goal after the play and we end up heading to our first media timeout.
We come back from the break dn the Rangers get a couple more chances. They’ve outshot the Red Wings 7-4 so far this period and they’ve been the better team. Then, with just under 11 minutes left, Zibanejad makes a phenomenal move to get himself open, finds a pass to Miller who absolutely rips one past Husso. And just like that, this game is tied at 2-2 with 10:47 left in regulation. The Rangers continue control until a whistle brings us to the second media timeout of the period. The Red Wings need to wake up FAST. It feels like they’ve been completely rattled by the rescinded penalty and the Rangers were inspired by it.
The Rangers get another fantastic chance shortly after the break. Miller finds a streaking Jonny Brodzinski who gets stoned by Husso on the backdoor. Then, the Red Wings finally wake up. They get control in the Rangers zone and a Compher pass finds Raymond on the backdoor but Shesterkin makes the save. Then they show a replay where DeBrincat gets drilled in the numbers but there’s no call. Baffling to me but not to the TNT broadcast team who claims it’s clean to drill a player in the numbers if “the player knows he’s coming.”
Anyways, shortly after, Lafreniere picks up a holding penalty on Jake Walman and the Red Wings get the power play they should’ve already had with 6:31 remaining in regulation. Early on in the power play, there’s a turnover and Kreider burns Seider for speed. Seider makes a great play and prevents Kreider from getting a shot on the breakaway. The Red Wings get one shot from Seider about 15 seconds later and don’t get another shot on the entire power play. They once against couldn’t get play set up until just before the power play ended. They do get a great chance there as Sprong finds Veleno backdoor, but he couldn’t get the shot off.
Immediately after, the Rangers go on a three-on-two rush. Vesey puts a shot on net and the puck pops up in the air. He then smacks the puck out of the air off the post and in and appears to give the Rangers the lead. However, it clearly looks like it’s a high stick to me and the officials are reviewing the play. I guess the official determined it was too close to reverse it or something? I don’t know. I thought it definitely looked high and I know I’m not the only Red Wings fan who thinks so. It’s 3-2 Rangers and shots are now 40-26 in favor of New York heading into the final media timeout.
Play goes back and forth out of the break. The Red Wings need to get some control and as I type that, Trocheck trips Sprong and the Red Wings will have a power play for the remainder of regulation (barring a penalty or power play goal). They manage to get possession in the offensive zone and get control. After a bit of time Husso heads to the bench and it’s now six-on-four. After a lot of puck movement, there’s a chance in front for Fabbri but Shesterkin makes a save with the knob of his stick.
Somehow the Red Wings can’t find a look. So much movement and they can’t find a shot. Finally they take one and it gets blocked by Trouba who lays on the puck in the slot to force a whistle with 6.6 seconds to play. One last faceoff to create a chance. No Larkin here for the faceoff is honestly brutal. Compher loses the faceoff but Raymond gets to the corner and fires a pass to Seider whose shot gets blocked and that’ll do it. The Rangers come away with a 3-2 win.
Conclusion
Well, that was one of the more annoying games of the season. Between the not great performance (which shouldn’t be ignored), the very tough officiating and, well, if you also watched the game with the TNT commentary on like me, there was that too. So much frustration coming out of that game and to think it comes in a regulation loss against the arguably best team in the NHL in their own barn with our captain out. It really takes a lot for a loss in that kind of scenario to hurt that much but it did. It was just brutal to watch all around.
The team wasn’t good enough in the third. That is 100% the case and can’t be ignored. They allowed 19 shots in the third period and managed just one shot on goal with a six-on-four to end the game. That isn’t good enough. That isn’t going to win you games very often. But the goal that wasn’t disallowed off what seemed like a very obvious high stick to give the Rangers the lead being the decider leaves such a sour taste in my mouth. And yet, we can’t dwell on it. The Red Wings return home to take on an old rival in the Chicago Blackhawks tomorrow evening. That’s a game you just can’t lose. Have a great night everyone and we’ll see you all tomorrow.
