Rangers beat Red Wings on Zuccarello's OT goal
NEW YORK -- Mats Zuccarello scored 37 seconds into overtime to give the New York Rangers a 2-1 victory against the Detroit Red Wings in a goaltending duel at Madison Square Garden on Friday night.
Zuccarello's goal was set up by defenseman Brady Skjei, who drew two defenders to him before feeding Zuccarello alone in front for his fourth goal of the season.
Jimmy Howard and Henrik Lundqvist were practically unbeatable. Lundqvist turned aside 40 shots for the Rangers while Howard stopped 29 of 31 shots for the Red Wings.
Chris Kreider of the Rangers and Tomas Tatar of the Red Wings exchanged goals in the third period.
The game was scoreless after two periods as the goaltenders combined to stop 50 shots and also received some help from goal posts.
Dylan Larkin had a breakaway in the first period that was stopped by Lundqvist and ricocheted off the outside of the post. The Red Wings outshot the Rangers 17-6 over the first 20 minutes.
Howard was spectacular in the second period, turning aside all 16 shots he faced. Defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk appeared to have a goal off a give-and-go but Howard pushed across to his right pad to deny the chance. Michael Grabner almost scored off a scramble earlier in the period, but he hit the post from a sharp angle.
Red Wings defenseman Mike Green nearly broke the scoreless tie with three minutes remaining in the period, but his wrist shot from near the right circle bounced off the right post and back in front of the net.
Tatar broke the scoreless tie at 4:05 of the third period with a power-play goal. Niklas Kronwall teed up Tatar, whose one-timer from the right side slipped just inside the near post and under the crossbar give the Red Wings a 1-0 lead.
Kreider got the Rangers even with 9:43 remaining, backhanding a loose puck near Howard's crease under the goaltender for his eighth goal of the season.
NOTES: Red Wings D Trevor Daley left the game midway through the first period with an upper-body injury and did not return. Daley lost his balance and fell into Rangers C Paul Carey in the neutral zone and wasn't moving his right arm as he left the ice. ... Red Wings scratches included LW David Booth, RW Martin Frk and RW Luke Witkowski, who is serving a 10-game suspension. ... Rangers D Ryan McDonagh (oblique) missed his second straight game. He will be re-evaluated Sunday. ... Rangers C David Desharnais was a healthy scratch for the third straight game.