Detroit Red Wings roll over New York Rangers, 4-1: Game thread recap
Detroit Red Wings (27-21-8) vs. New York Rangers (33-15-9)
When: 7 p.m. Thursday.
Where: Little Caesars Arena in Detroit.
TV: Bally Sports Detroit.
Radio: WXYT-FM (97.1; other radio affiliates).
Game notes: The NHL trade deadline doesn’t arrive until March 3 — a week from Friday — but the Wings’ opponent has already gotten a head start. Earlier this month, the Rangers grabbed forward Vladimir Tarasenko from the St. Louis Blues in exchange for two picks and two players. The 31-year-old four-time All-Star had been a bit of a disappointment in 2022-23 (despite his 2023 Alll-Star nod) with 10 goals and 19 assists for the Blues this season, after topping 30 goals in each of his past five healthy seasons. He has picked up the pace for the Rangers, though, with two goals and two assists in six games; the Blueshirts won the first four of those, but have dropped their past two (in OT at Calgary and in regulation at home to Winnipeg).
Rangers GM Chris Drury — yes, the one from the Avs and the Little League World Series — wasn’t through, though, picking up former Wolverine Tyler Motte from Ottawa on Sunday for a 2023 seventh-rounder and winger Julien Gauthier. The 27-year-old went scoreless over 10:45 of ice time in his Rangers debut on Monday.
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It’ll be a bit of a homecoming for coach Gerard Gallant in his second season in New York; before becoming a coach, the 1981 sixth-rounder spent nine seasons with the Wings after making his debut in 1984. Gallant is on his fourth franchise as a head coach, after stints in Columbus (2003-07), Florida (2014-17) and Vegas (2017-20). In all, he’s 20-18-5 against his former franchise, though a whopping 13 of those regulation losses came in his run with the Blue Jackets.
It’s a bit of a homecoming for the Wings, as well, who haven’t dropped the puck at LCA since Feb. 11 (a 5-2 win over the Vancouver Canucks). Since then, they’ve gone 4-1 on the road, with three wins in Western Canada (over the Canucks, Flames and Edmonton Oilers) plus a W in D.C. against the Washington Capitals on Tuesday. The Caps are the only team this month to keep Wings captain Dylan Larkin off the scoresheet; his ejection roughly 13 minutes into the Wings’ 3-1 win (after 2:54 of ice time) snapped a seven-game streak in which he had seven goals and six assists. (And that’s not counting the five goals he had in two 20-minute mini-games against the Metropolitan and Central divisions in the All-Star tournament on Feb. 4.)
The Wings (62 points) are one of the NHL's hottest teams and are just two points behind the Panthers (64 points) for the East's second wild-card berth and three points behind the N.Y. Islanders (65 points) for the first wild-card spot. (Though they've also got the Pittsburgh Penguins, at 63 points, between them and those spots, and the Caps, at 62, and Buffalo Sabres, at 60, nipping at their heels.)
This is the last meeting of the season between these Original Six foes; the Wings won the first, 3-2 in OT on Nov. 6, followed by an 8-2 Rangers win on Nov. 10. Next up, the Wings host defending Eastern Conference champion Tampa Bay on Saturday night, followed by a back-to-back stint in Ottawa on Monday and Tuesday. The Rangers, meanwhile, head to D.C. to face the Caps on Saturday afternoon before returning home for a visit from the L.A. Kings on Sunday.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Red Wings beat New York Rangers, 4-1: Game thread recap
