Jimmy Howard – file photo courtesy of Lewis Bleiman
NEW YORK (NY) – Detroit Red Wings goalie Jimmy Howard was a freak of nature on Wednesday night, for lack of a better term. The 32-year old backup made 32 saves, including three breakaway saves in the second period to give the Wings a 2-1 victory at Madison Square Garden. Rangers net minder Henrik Lundqvist stopped 16 of 18 saves  for his second loss of the year.
The Rangers Mika Zibanejad notched his second goal of the year just 1:09 into the first period. The Red Wings would mirror that strategy in the third, scoring the go-ahead goal just 59 seconds into the third period.
“It’s a game we should put away before we hit 40 minutes with the amount of chances we had,” Lundqvist commented “but it came down to [Detroit’s second goal] where, for the most part, when I do that play I find our [defenseman] on the backside. It happens. It’s just tough when it’s the difference.”
It was a game that gave the Rangers a 5-on-3 man advantage in the second and the Red Wings their own 5-on-3 in the third. Thomas Vanek for Detroit scored the only power-play goal of the night at 6:15 in the second.
Howard was the obvious difference in the game, standing on his head making 14 saves in the first and 13 in the second. The biggest difference came during and after the Blueshirts killed off their 5-on-3. Michael Grabner (shorthanded) and Rick Nash (even-strengthed) had breakaways a minute apart, but weren’t able to solve Howard.
Rookie Jimmy Vesey would have a breakaway chance of his own later in the second, but fell victim to the Jimmy Howard show.
“I thought Jimmy [Howard] stole the game. I thought Jimmy had one of the best performances I’ve seen out of any goalie at any level” praised Detroit coach Jeff Blashill.
The Rangers can take a lot of positives out of this game, showing dominance for the majority of the 60 minutes. As long as they keep generating opportunities, the scoring will come. They outscored their opponents 12-7 coming into Wednesday night.
Detroit’s next game will be Friday at home against Nashville at 7:30pm.
The Rangers will head to Washington to face Alex Ovechkin and the Capitals on Saturday at 7pm.
Follow Danny on Twitter: @Danny_PJones
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