rangers red wings 2015

Last night’s game between the New York Rangers and Detroit Red Wings may have been low scoring, but it was a very exciting game filled with a lot of chances for both clubs. Both Cam Talbot and Jimmy Talbot Howard came up huge for both clubs, but it was Howard who won the duel after Marek Zidlicky beat Talbot in overtime on a scramble in front on the powerplay.

This was one of those games where you just sat back and enjoyed the back and forth action with stellar goaltending. It reminded me of that Henrik Lundqvist/Martin Brodeur shutout duel a few years ago. This one wasn’t on the same level, but it was still a very exciting and enjoyable low scoring game. Talbot made 29 very difficult saves, while Howard made 40 equally difficult saves. This was one of the better goalie duels we’ve seen in a while.

On to the goals:

Wings 1, Rangers 0

All the coverage fails come from the McDonagh turnover.

All the coverage fails come from the McDonagh turnover.

Ryan McDonagh turned the puck over, right to Jonathan Ericsson at the point. Ericsson wound up for a slap shot from the point, but he shanked it, and the puck went right to Henrik Zetterberg in the slot, who beat McDonagh there. McDonagh went to cover Zetterberg, while Justin Abdelkader beat Dan Girardi to the front of the net, where he banged home Zetterberg’s pass.

Rangers 1, Wings 1

Bad coverage in front.

Bad coverage in front.

The Rangers created havoc in front of the net for this powerplay goal. Derick Brassard drew attention as Rick Nash threw the puck to the slot. Xavier Ouellet Danny Dekeyser didn’t get Girardi in front, who poked it in for the goal.

Wings 2, Rangers 1

This was just a flukey goal for Zidlicky, who collected the loose puck in front after Talbot stopped Datsyuk on the doorstep, and put the puck over Talbot (literally rolled over him).

Fenwick/USAT Chart:

Advantage: Rangers.

Advantage: Rangers.

The Rangers held a steady advantage in quantity of shot attempts throughout the game, but it was still pretty close. The Rangers actually pushed hard at the end of the game, but Howard was up to the task.

Scoring Chances:

Advantage: Wings

Advantage: Wings

The Wings held a slight advantage for most of the game in the quality chances, but it was still pretty close in terms of quality.It wasn’t until the third when the Rangers took over the quality scoring chance advantage, but in the end it was 25-19, so there’s not much of a difference here. Two teams that matched up well against each other.

Individual Corsi/SAT Chart:

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MSL/Stepan/Kreider have been having possession issues all year.

All things considered, those that you expect to be a net positive for puck possession were net positives, and vice versa. McDonagh had a rough game as a net negative and a turnover that led to a goal. He’s been having an off-year.

Shot Locations:

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Quality chances all around.

The Rangers allowed a lot of quality chances to the Wings, but Talbot came up huge on a lot of them. Howard also came up huge on a lot of the Rangers quality chances.

Shift Chart:

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Few shifts for Fast/Sheppard at the end of the game.

Without last change, Alain Vigneault did the best he could to get Girardi and McDonagh out there against the Datsyuk line. So basically this is par for the course. Mike Babcock did a good job separating The Magic Man from that pair, although they were still able to get out on the ice against either the Zetterberg or Sheahan lines. Detroit is very deep, so getting a solid defense pair out against any of their top-nine is the eventual goal.

You can’t win them all, and the Rangers got a point out of it, so you can’t really complain. The Rangers open March with five games in a row against playoff teams, and right now they are 1-0-1 to start that stretch. Would have been nice to get the extra point, but you take the point and move on to Chicago.

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