NY Rangers Goal Breakdown: Henrik Lundqvist shines in shutout in Detroit

Henrik Lundqvist, he without a shutout for two straight calendar years, finally got off that schneid last night. The King stopped all 33 shots he faced, several of them difficult saves, en route to a 1-0 win. Mika Zibanejad scored the lone goal off a fancy pass from Chris Kreider, and then it was The King’s show.

The Rangers and Wings played to a much closer shot share, with the Wings actually getting 50% of the shot attempts, far from the Blueshirts’ dominating performance one night early. They also owned the quality, peppering the Blueshirts for a 63% expected-goals share. The Wings woke up, but this was the Henrik Lundqvist show.

The Rangers did lose Kreider to injury in the game. Hopefully it isn’t serious. He took a knee to the head by Zibanejad in what was incidental contact.

Rangers 1, Wings 0

This was a fun pass by Kreider to set up Zibanejad. Dylan Larkin went for the clear, but Zibanejad was there first.

Some Saves

Henrik Lundqvist has a weak glove though, right?

Shot Heatmap

This shows a more even shot share, as mentioned above. There’s a little more red in the Wings section than blue in the Rangers section, specifically at the right dot.

Skater Results

A stark contrast to the prior game, when most Rangers were in the “good” or “dull” categories. This game had a lot more pace to it, with the teams trading chances. Was a rough one Brendan Smith and Greg McKegg, but those are the only outliers. DeAngelo had a rough night defensively, allowing the third most expected-goals on the team and the most shot attempts against. But he made up for it with his offense.

The two games against Detroit were a tune up for what’s coming. Dallas and Toronto are up next as the Rangers kick off a four-game home stand. The Rangers play almost every other night for the next two months. Buckle up folks.