In New York, Thomas Greiss made 37 saves and stopped five of six shooters in the skills competition to help the Detroit Red Wings edge the Rangers, 3-2, on Thursday,
“You don’t win in this league without really good goaltending,” Red Wings head coach Jeff Blashill said. “‘Greisser’ gave us that.”
Mika Zibanejad forced extra time when he tied the game, 2-2, near the midway point of the third period.
“The second half of the game, I liked our game, but the first half we came real flat, obviously, and Detroit took it to us pretty good,” Rangers head coach Gerard Gallant said. “It should have been more than 1-0 but [Shesterkin] played real good. But the second half we played good enough to get back in. We probably got the one point we deserved, but no more.”
Dylan Larkin and Troy Stecher scored for Detroit in regulation.
“Good for him (Stecher), good for us,” Blashill said. “Happy for him. He’s worked really hard to get back. It hasn’t been easy. Those guys that go out with the long-term injuries, it is hard mentally. You’re away from the team, it can be lonely for sure. It’s been a long grind to get him back going and he’s still fighting through some pain, so great for him to be able to score.”
K’Andre Miller also scored for the Rangers in regulation, his goal tied the game, 1-1.
The Rangers dropped to 31-13-5.
“We had some good chances after that, some great saves by their goalie and a couple other looks,” New York’s Adam Fox said. “That’s just the way it goes sometimes. It just wasn’t our night like that tonight.”
They are 3-0-1 in their last four.
Pius Suter was credited with the deciding goal in the skills competition.
“It’s huge for us,” Greiss said. “On the road we haven’t been that good this year, it’s definitely something we have to work on. Overall, as a team, we took a big step here tonight and it’s good to see.”
Igor Shesterkin made 31 saves in the Rangers loss.
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