Detroit Red Wings blanked by New York Rangers, 4-0: Game thread replay
Detroit Red Wings (29-35-10, 68 points) vs. New York Rangers (48-21-6, 102 points)
When: 12:30 p.m. Saturday.
Where: Madison Square Garden, New York.
TV: Bally Sports Detroit.
Radio: WXYT-FM (97.1; other radio affiliates).
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Game notes: Less than two years after winning the No. 1 overall pick in the NHL draft lottery, the Rangers are chasing the Carolina Hurricanes for the top spot in the Metropolitan Division, sitting two points out entering Saturday's games.
The Rangers used that 2020 top pick on forward Alexis Lafreniere, seen as a generational talent. The 20-year-old is having a solid season, with 15 goals and 10 assists to rank eighth on the roster in points, but he’s hardly the reason for the Rangers’ resurgence. (Lucas Raymond, who was taken by the Wings at No. 4 in the 2020 draft, has 22 goals and 33 assists. GM Steve Yzerman is sorry, not sorry.) Of course, the Rangers weren’t a terrible team when they won the lottery; they made the hastily thrown-together play-in round with a 37-28-5 record, then lost to the Hurricanes in three straight to qualify for the second lottery drawing.
But the big difference this season has been forward Chris Kreider, turning in a monster career year. After never scoring more than 28 goals — and a two-season high of 52, set over 142 games in the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons — Kreider enters Saturday with 50 goals in 75 games this season, along with 21 assists. The 30-year-old (he turns 31 on April 30) was shut out in Thursday’s game against the Philadelphia Flyers, but scored twice Saturday and once Wednesday.
Despite the difference in the two teams’ playoff standing, the Wings have played the Rangers tight in their two meetings this season, with a shootout win in mid-February and an overtime loss to end March. After the matinee at Madison Square Garden, the Wings will zip home for a Sunday afternoon matchup with the Atlantic-leading Florida Panthers. The Rangers, meanwhile, have a few days off before hosting the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday.
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Contact Ryan Ford at rford@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @theford.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Red Wings blanked by New York Rangers, 4-0: Game thread replay
