In Detroit, Henrik Lundqvist made 33 saves to pick up his first shut out in two years when helped the New York Rangers to a 1-0 win over the Red Wings on Saturday night.
“It seems like there have been a lot of these games, including a few in this building,” Lundqvist said. “I really enjoy them, because every save is going to matter, and one goal might be enough to win the game.”
Henrik Lundqvist made 33 saves for Rangers 1-0 shutout – file photo by Lewis Bleiman
Mika Zibanejad scored the game’s only goal in the first period on a power play.
He took a pass from Chris Kreider who was near the goal line on the right side.
“We won a 1-0 hockey game, and I’m not sure if anyone here thought we were capable of doing that,” Rangers coach David Quinn said. “We were very sloppy in the first two periods, but [Lundqvist] was dialed in and excited.
“I liked our third period, we weren’t anywhere near as dumb as we were in the first two.”
The Red Wings are 0-7-1 in their last eight.
“I thought we were way better tonight, we looked like a hockey team,” Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. “That’s the way we have to continue playing. It’s a small step in the right direction.”
The Rangers improved to 25-21-4.
“It’s been quirky, and I know [Lundqvist] hasn’t played in five games,” Quinn said.
“Three of them were against the Islanders and [Georgiev] happens to be a great matchup. If we hadn’t played the same team three times in a five-game stretch he would have played. It’s better to have three good goalies than not have any.”
[WATCH: All Rangers vs. Red Wings highlights]
Jonathan Bernier made 30 saves in the loss.
“I felt a little rusty in the first period,” Bernier said. “There’s nothing like game time for a goalie, so it was probably about midway through the game before I felt comfortable.”
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