The Detroit Red Wings are defeated by the Rangers in the third period.
When the Detroit Red Wings last visited Madison Square Garden earlier this month, they scored three goals in the third period after falling behind by five goals in the first two. Detroit ultimately lost to the New York Rangers, one of the best teams in the NHL, because it was “too little, too late.” In order to extend their winning streak to four games, the Red Wings needed to arrive on time and perform as they have since coming back from Sweden. Regretfully, it did not take place.
Detroit Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin did not play in New York and is considered day-to-day with an injury. You could tell the captain was not on the ice in the first period. The Red Wings looked out of sync with lots of missed passes and opportunities. They survived the period without giving up a goal, which was huge.
The player most responsible for this survival was Ville Husso, as he was under siege during the Rangers’ first power play. The referees made survival even more complicated with some questionable penalties called on the Wings and some obvious calls missed on the Rangers.
The Detroit Red Wings tried to survive the game in the loss to the Rangers.
The Red Wings held on to their lead and played a better game in the second period, dominating the puck and spending some quality time in the Rangers’ zone. Unfortunately, their careless passing cost them, as Artemi Panarin scored a goal on a defenseless Husso after a pass was intercepted in the neutral zone.
Once again, the Red Wings found themselves on the power play, and things were not looking good for the first unit. With just two minutes remaining, Moritz Seider produced a spectacular point shot that eluded Igor Shesterkin, securing the equalizer.
Twenty-three seconds after Seider’s goal, Jonatan Berggren put the puck on Robby Fabbri’s stick to score the second goal. The Red Wings were bouncing the puck around in the slot, barely hanging on.
Without a doubt, New York didn’t back down. They made a strong comeback and pushed to end the match. Husso helped the Wings survive the remainder of the second period without conceding another goal as things became hectic. He produced some incredible saves to maintain the Red Wings’ lead.
Husso was definitely helped out by the team with some very timely blocked shots by what seemed like everyone on the team. Some great chances for the Rangers were stopped by all the blocked shots. All those blocked shots helped the Wings continue to survive in this game.
Trying to survive was pushed to the extreme in the third period when Lucas Raymond appeared to grab a defender’s stick and pull it into his face! It wasn’t apparent right away, and a double minor was called. The penalty was then reviewed, and they called off, stopping the power play for Detroit. The Red Wings continued to block shots and try their best to hold on to their one goal lead with lots of blocked shots and solid goaltending by Husso. Their luck ran out, and Keandre Miller was fed the puck while wide open and put it right in the back of the net to tie up the game. The Red Wings didn’t let this get them down and continued to push hard
In the end, the Rangers ended up climbing back on top vs. the Detroit Red Wings.
Unfortunately, the team that ended up surviving in the end was the Rangers. On a broken play, they ended up getting another goal that should have been called back, in my opinion, for being batted in from above the crossbar.
The Red Wings played a gritty game and did their best to survive on a night when they didn’t have their best and were missing Larkin. It was a much better game than they played last time against the Rangers despite all the obstacles they faced.
When you look at the circumstances of missing their captain and the worse-than-average calls by the officials, I’m not upset with the way they played, just the outcome. Detroit’s back in action tomorrow night on home ice against the Chicago Blackhawks.
