Rangers answer Peter Laviolette’s five-on-five challenge in win over Red Wings
The Rangers had a visceral response to the recent call for improvement in their five-on-five play.
It was, however, only part of what secured a 5-3 win over the Red Wings on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden.
Their power play and goaltending, which has propelled them through a 7-0-1 tear and to fourth place in the entire NHL, had just as much of a hand in the victory as their strong showing at even strength.
It was the same Blueshirts we’ve seen all season, just better. More well-rounded, if you will.
Despite the good, there were also the Rangers’ recurring issues, such as sitting on leads, which they did once again as the Red Wings scored three times during their third-period push.
“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,” head coach Peter Laviolette said. “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.”
For 40 of 60 minutes, the Rangers applied consistent offensive pressure in all situations, producing three goals at five-on-five and two on the power play.
Exploding for four goals in the second period, the Rangers exploited the Red Wings with precision and a high-octane effort.
They were suffocating in the offensive zone, no matter if they were skating at even strength or a man up.
It was all operating at the same level, just how Laviolette likes it.
Vincent Trocheck double-dipped and scored one of each for his third multi-goal game of his Rangers tenure, while Artemi Panarin notched a power-play assist and an even-strength goal to extend his season-opening point streak to 12 games.
Panarin’s 4-0 goal at the 11:21 mark embodied all that the Rangers were doing right during five-on-five play.
After some strong work along the boards behind the Red Wings’ net from Alexis Lafreniere, the 2020 first-overall pick dished to a wide-open Panarin for a point-blank shot that the Russian wing was not going to miss — especially at the rate he’s going this season.
“I feel like he came [into the] year more hungry,” Panarin said of Lafreniere, who has six points in 12 games. “Looks like he’s just feeling the game right now and just skating fast, trying hard. It’s nice to see him like that.”
In wake of their extended time in the defensive zone during their most recent shootout loss in Minnesota, the Rangers refused to be hemmed in their own end Tuesday night — until the third period.
Laviolette had said after the Minnesota game that he would’ve liked to have seen the Rangers get that extra score at the end of their three-goal first-period surge, which was eviscerated by the Wild in their comeback victory.
The Rangers got an extra two goals against the Red Wings, and it turns out that they needed them.
Detroit made the Rangers sweat a little in the final frame, cutting their lead to two with 6:11 left in regulation. The visitors even pulled goalie Vile Husso with more than two minutes left in the period.
A high-scoring Red Wings team did struggle for two of the three periods against Jonathan Quick, who made 25 saves in his first start at the Garden.
The combined effort in all situations, however, proved to be enough for the win.
“I thought we came out with the right attitude and the right pace,” Laviolette said. “Really put the game where we wanted to put it right from the start.”
