For two periods, it wasn’t a contest. However, after getting the game’s first five goals, the Rangers were forced to hold on for a 5-3 win over the Red Wings last night. The victory was their seventh over the last eight (7-0-1). They improved to a division-leading best 9-2-1 for the season.

Entering Tuesday’s game, there was some curiosity about how they’d respond to a lackluster performance in a 5-4 shootout loss to the Wild on Nov. 4. Rangers coach Peter Laviolette was critical of the team for how they played. He liked what he saw last night. The players responded well by dominating the improved Red Wings for two periods by outscoring them 5-0.

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“I liked the game, we just got to put a little asterisk next to it and talk about a few things in the third period, we’ll take care of that tomorrow,” Laviolette emphasized after things got interesting in the third period. “I do think that the mindset was right. The approach was right. We hit the post four or five times. We had point-blank chances and a couple of breakaways, could’ve pushed even more.”

If Laviolette wanted to see better five-on-five play than what took place in Minnesota, he got it. The Rangers came out of the gate on fire. They jumped all over a flat Red Wings who were out of sorts. That included Vincent Trocheck scoring the first of two goals less than two minutes in when he took an Erik Gustafsson feed and surprised Red Wings goalie Ville Husso with a wrist shot that beat him to the short side for the game’s first goal.

The Rangers continued to press the attack. They got the game’s first eight shots. At one point, they led in shots 12-1. The Red Wings survived the first period onslaught thanks to Husso, who stopped 12 of 13 shots.

On the opposite end, Jonathan Quick didn’t have much to do. He was a spectator for most of the first period. When called upon, he made five saves as the Rangers took a one-goal lead to the locker room.

Power Play sparks Big Second

After killing off the first of two Blake Wheeler minors, the Rangers went to work on the power play. Even without Adam Fox, it was dangerous and opportunistic – going 2-for-3 in the game.

The Red Wings got themselves in trouble when they took consecutive penalties to give the league’s second ranked power play a pair of opportunities to extend the lead. That power play sparked a big second period.

Gustafsson drew a holding minor on former Ranger Andrew Copp. It only took a dozen seconds for the top unit to connect. On a nice play started by Artemi Panarin, he moved the puck up for Gustafsson, who then shot for a Chris Kreider tip-in for his league-leading sixth power-play goal.

Kreider leads the Rangers with nine goals. He recently passed Andy Bathgate for fourth all-time on the Rangers’ franchise goal scoring list. He has 274 goals. It won’t be long before he catches Adam Graves for third. He’s six behind.

Following Kreider’s goal, Red Wings defenseman Christian Fischer took down Braden Schneider to put the Rangers back on the man-advantage. This time, it took 28 seconds for the top unit to capitalize on the undisciplined penalty.

Mika Zibanejad kept a puck alive by forcing Moritz Seider into a turnover. Kreider retrieved the puck and moved it back for Zibanejad, who zipped a cross-ice feed for Trocheck to bury a one-timer by Husso for the Rangers’ second power-play goal over a 44-second span. That gave Trocheck his second goal of the game. A well-deserved reward for a strong five-on-five who’s been superb on faceoffs.

Panarin Extends Streak to 12

Panarin continued his hot start by posting a goal and an assist in the Rangers’ win versus the Red Wings. After helping set up Kreider on the power play, he scored his seventh goal of the season to make it 4-0 in the second period.

Alexis Lafreniere supplied most of the work by out-hustling the Red Wings behind the boards before centering a pass in front that Panarin finished. The two have worked well together since the start of the season. They’re becoming a reliable combo the Rangers can depend on.

For Panarin, he’s now registered a point in all 12 games this season. That leaves him two shy of Rangers’ legend Rod Gilbert’s franchise record of 14 straight to start a season. Panarin leads the team in scoring with seven goals and 13 assists for 20 points. The Rangers’ next two games are against the Wild on Thursday and the Blue Jackets on Sunday.

Laviolette praises Jones and Schneider

It was just the third game of the season for Zac Jones. After a less than stellar return to the lineup in Minnesota, he had a better game on Tuesday night while paired up with Braden Schneider. Both played well enough for Laviolette to praise them.

“I thought that pair was excellent. It’s unfortunate the second goal. I thought we could’ve gotten more help from forwards coming back into the zone. And Zac was kinda caught in front on the second goal,” Laviolette told reporters.

“But I thought that pair. Jones and Schneider. That pair was excellent. Through two periods and even into the third. It was just a couple of tough bounces for them. I thought they played a good game. At the end of two periods, I thought they had a major impact in the game.”

Laviolette was referencing a couple of strong shifts where both Jones and Schneider kept pucks alive in the Detroit zone to create offense. Twice, Jones came close to scoring his first goal of the season. After a near miss, he and Schneider kept going to finally set up Will Cuylle for his third goal with less than six minutes remaining in the second. Schneider passed it over for a Jones shot that Cuylle redirected in front for a 5-0 lead.

That kind of play will keep Jones in the lineup. He and Schneider were better last night than the previous two times they played together this season. Hopefully, that can be a confidence booster for the two defensemen to build off of.

Loss of Discipline Gets Rangers in Trouble

In the third period, the Rangers lost their discipline by taking two penalties to give the Red Wings a two-man advantage.

Following a Barclay Goodrow cross-checking minor on Seider, K’Andre Miller took a delay of game minor to put the Wings on a five-on-three. Although the Rangers did a good job killing off the penalties, that gave Detroit the momentum. They ramped it up to get back in the game by scoring twice within a 20-second span.

On a play started by Jeff Petry over to Ben Chiarot, they combined to set up Michael Rasmussen for a rocket that beat a screened Quick far side for the Red Wings’  first goal of the game. Moments later, they caught the Rangers in transition to set up Klim Kostin for a goal in front that made it  a three-goal game with under 12 minutes left.

With the Rangers unable to take care of the neutral zone, they played Detroit’s more wide open style, trading chances with them. It wasn’t a wise decision. With still over six minutes left in regulation,  Husso made a good outlet for J.T. Compher,  who then sent Copp in for a shot from the right circle that beat Quick that suddenly made it 5-3 with 6:11 remaining.

Quick Makes Critical Stops

After only facing 12 shots in the first two periods, Quick faced plenty of rubber in a much busier third period. When the game got dicey, he came up with some critical stops to help the Rangers hold on for the win.

With the Red Wings lifting Husso for an extra attacker with over three minutes left, they pressed for more offense. After a couple of close calls, Dylan Larkin was denied twice at point-blank range by Quick in the last 30 seconds. He also made a nice glove save on David Perron.

For the period, Quick stopped 13 of 16 shots. Overall, he made 25 saves to improve to 3-0-1 with a 1.77 goals-against-average (GAA) and .935 save percentage. It was his 378th career win. He ranks second all-time among American goalies in wins behind former Sabre Ryan Miller (391).

Bookkeeping Continues

Following the game, the Rangers assigned Jonny Brodzinski, Louis Domingue, and Connor Mackey to Hartford. They’ll likely be recalled for Thursday’s game against the Wild.

The bookkeeping continues so that the Rangers accrue more salary cap space. It’ll continue until Filip Chytil and Igor Shesterkin return. The status for Adam Fox remains sketchy. Hopefully, he won’t be out for an extended period.