1st Period
New York would open the scoring about six minutes in — Will Cuylle wound up with the puck after a brutal turnover from Austin Czarnik and a weak shot for Alex Lyon to let go of:
Detroit would answer just minutes later — it was Andrew Copp with the hot potato surrounded by four white jerseys in front of Jonathan Quick:
Detroit got a look on the power play once, but easily should have had two more PP attempts if it weren’t for missed calls. The lone attempt couldn’t manage to produce any results.
The Rangers would pick up another goal to make it 2-1 with 30 seconds left in the period. That’s where the game stood after 20 minutes.
2nd Period
Strange period but Detroit managed to keep up with the Rangers. The Wings would outscore New York 2-1 but still wound up with a tie game after 20 minutes. It started with JT Compher about a minute-and-a-half in:
About 12 minutes later, the Wings are on the board again — this time it was Dylan Larkin on the power play for his 30th goal of the season:
You had seconds to feel good about that goal. About a half-minute later, Barclay Goodrow nets the equalizer to make it 3-3.
Credit to Alex Lyon — he had a couple of big saves late in the period. The Wings were getting caught in their zone and goaltending had to bail them out every time. Fortunately this period ends tied at three a piece.
3rd Period
It was a spirited effort from Detroit, but the dagger came nearly halfway through the third period when Chris Kreider would score a power-play goal to make it 4-3. The PP chance stemmed from a high-sticking penalty taken by David Perron.
The Wings would get another PP chance, but couldn’t get much going against Jonatan Quick. They would spend the last couple of minutes with Alex Lyon on the bench and did a pretty good job at keeping New York hemmed in its own zone, but no scoring. Rangers take this one 4-3.
This season is going down to the very last game. The Wings can’t manage a point tonight but still are in the Wild Card race. The Rangers are a tall task, so I wasn’t expecting much — a point would have been exceeding expectations.
The Wings are back to work Sunday afternoon against the Sabres, who won tonight. Another “most important game of the season” brewing?
