Hockey|Zuccarello Provides the Difference in Another Tight Game vs. Detroit
The Detroit Red Wings have been rare guests at Madison Square Garden the past two decades. Now, as part of a revamped Eastern Conference, their red and white sweaters will appear more often, pleasing hockey purists who relish games between Original Six opponents.
The Rangers certainly hope future meetings match the script written on Thursday when Mats Zuccarello finally solved goaltender Jimmy Howard late in the third period to lift the home team to a 1-0 victory.
Zuccarello scored at 14 minutes 2 seconds of the final period after a slick series of passes with linemates Derick Brassard and Benoit Pouliot. Zuccarello, a crafty Norwegian winger and an offensive force this season, finished the play by maneuvering a soft shot between Howard and the right post.
The 5-foot-7 Zuccarello tied Brad Richards and Chris Kreider for the team lead with 12 goals.
Henrik Lundqvist made 38 saves for his third shutout of the season and the 48th of his career, as the Rangers improved to 25-21-3 and recovered from a 2-1 loss to Tampa Bay on Tuesday.
The Rangers are 9-3-1 since they beat Minnesota on Dec. 22, and Lundqvist is 6-2-1 in his last nine appearances. The Rangers also improved their home record to 11-11-3.
The Red Wings, a strong road team at 14-7-3, lost for the fifth time in their last seven games.
The last 12 meetings between the Rangers and the Red Wings have been decided by two goals or less; eight of the games had one-goal margins. When the teams met in Detroit in Oct. 26, the Rangers won, 3-2, in overtime on a goal by Derick Brassard with 13 seconds left.
On Thursday, the teams again played an excruciatingly close game.
Both goaltenders turned in strong performances. Lundqvist stopped Riley Sheahan with a right-pad save in the first period, and Howard denied Derek Stepan from the slot and Ryan McDonagh on a wraparound attempt. The Rangers outshot the Red Wings, 18-15, in the period.
The stellar netminding continued in the second, when the Rangers had two man-advantage chances and outshot the visitors, 17-10. Lundqvist's best stop was a sprawling save on Drew Miller late in the period.
Howard (37 saves) continued his heroics in the third, when the Rangers took 15 more shots to exceed the 40-shot level for the eighth time this season.
The Rangers are in the midst of a stretch of 12 of 13 games in the area, including two Winter Classic games at Yankee Stadium.
The Red Wings (20-17-10) have been inconsistent amid strong competition in the Atlantic Division. On Thursday, they had to contend with a slew of injuries. Forwards Pavel Datsyuk, Daniel Alfredsson and Johan Franzen and defenseman Jonathan Ericsson were sidelined. Also missing were forwards Darren Helm and Stephen Weiss. Sheahan, Gustav Nyquist and Luke Glendening - key members of last season's A.H.L. Calder Cup-winning Grand Rapids Griffins - suited up instead.
Finishing a five-game road trip, the Red Wings also recalled forward Cory Emmerton from Grand Rapids to replace the injured Joakim Andersson. Tomas Jurco played in place of Tomas Tatar, who was attending his father's funeral in Slovakia.
Adding more potential drama, the Red Wings and the Rangers could be battling for a playoff spot for the first time since 1970, when the race came down to the season's last day.
The Red Wings played in the Western Conference starting with the 1993-94 season, when the Rangers won their first Stanley Cup since 1940. Detroit won the Stanley Cup four times after the move west.
SLAP SHOTS
The contest marked the Garden return of the Red Wings associate coach Tom Renney, who coached the Rangers from 2004-09 ... The Red Wings have 10 players who will head to the Winter Olympics in Sochi... The teams play again at the Garden on March 9 ... The Red Wings Hall of Fame left wing Ted Lindsay, 88, was at the game ... The Rangers are 20-3-1 when scoring first and 16-1-1 when leading after the second.
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