Daley brings home game winner to beat Rangers in OT

Henrik Lundqvist #30 of the New York Rangers skates off the ice as the Detroit Red Wings celebrate the win on February 25, 2018 at Madison Square Garden in New York City.The Detroit Red Wings defeated the New York Rangers 3-2 in overtime. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

Trevor Daley did it again for the Red Wings Sunday night. After his game winner Saturday against the Carolina Hurricanes, he got it done in overtime to beat the New York Rangers 3-2 at Madison Square Garden. It was the first time in a while that Detroit managed to get back to back wins gaining two huge points that put them back in the hunt. Jimmy Howard was also a big help for Detroit as he got another win stopping 36 on the night.

Detroit’s much needed victory on Saturday had them on the path to making something of their quick run to New York after their team leader set a milestone in Franchise history. Henrik Zetterberg scored a goal that put him in fifth all time to deal strongly against Hurricanes. The Rangers sat on a six-game losing streak and with the trade of Rick Nash hitting Rangers fans across the country, the future did not look pleasing in another home game. New York was in the middle of a sell off and hoped that despite the current situation, they could get through Sunday night with the deadline fast approaching.

A first strike from the Rangers ended in the glove of Howard who got the reach just fine to make the stab of the puck. His team got on the puck firing one at Henrik Lundqvist who wanted very much to end his losing ways. He dealt with a lot from the Red Wings over the next 12 minutes but denied them with blocked shots on the pads and those of his teammates. They battled back a Detroit power play and later earned one themselves where they nearly buried the puck on two scoring chances.

Howard made another good save when play returned to even strength denying Kevin Hayes with a chance to score for New York with 4:44 left. They began to outduel the Red Wings in the final minutes threatening Howard but remained focused to stop the Rangers along with Luke Glendening who helped out on a loose puck situation.

The final minute passed with the Rangers still in the hunt but in a last ditch possession of the puck where Andreas Athanasiou took off firing the puck between the legs of both Rob O’Gara and Lundqvist for his 12^th of the season. It came with 6.7 seconds left to get the momentum running their way to lead. “Getting that goal definitely eases things a little bit,” Athanasiou said to Fox Sports Detroit’s Trevor Thompson. They were still outshot by New York 13-11 playing them nearly even on the faceoff.

Through four minutes of the second period, the Red Wings had already put six shots on Lundqvist hungry to add to their scoring margin. It came on a slip by Pavel Buchnevich who lost the puck at center that quickly got onto the stick of Detroit’s Darren Helm. The speedster took off at Lundqvist to score his eighth of the year.

The fun was over for the Red Wings as they handed New York a power play which they made good on finding the open spot. J.T. Miller found the ice open with Trevor Daley firing the puck scoring his 13^th. Just when he got the shutout done, Tomas Tatar helped the Red Wings get back their two-goal lead. Rangers head coach Alain Vigneault challenged the goal for off-sides which went their way negating Tatar’s goal.

Despite the loss of the 3-1 lead, the Red Wings had plenty of time to make up for it. They were up 10-5 on shots to the net with five minutes to go getting their third man advantage. While it did not produce the result they wanted, Detroit concluded the second period maintaining their lead with the Rangers way behind 11-6.

Gameplay between the two in the third period was tight as the shot attempts were fought to get on the respective goaltenders. Only five pucks were logged between the teams through six minutes of play with a goal still separating them. The Rangers were running out of time and made a stab at getting the game leveled with 11 to go. Mika Zabinejad was next to Howard as New York slapped the puck at him to get one in. The Rangers thought they got it done but a distinct kicking motion from Zabinejad was caught on tape negating their scoring chance.

The play was reviewed by a challenge from the Rangers but the call stood thereby losing their timeout. They got over it when three minutes later came the tying goal that had Howard ultimately beat in net. A shot to the Detroit netminder’s glove side by Kevin Hayes shot wide but got to Jesper Fast who was there for the rebound. He quickly got rid of the puck sending into the net for his tenth.

The shots on goals belonged to the Rangers who outshot the Red Wings 13-5 with only six minutes left in regulation. With their pace at a higher rate than Detroit’s the defense by the visiting team needed to stick to solid coverage for a chance at a goal or overtime. Howard held his ground as the Rangers surged for the game winner but could not get it. Detroit was being cut off from attacking Lundqvist. One opportunity came to Tatar with 30 seconds but his shot hit the post instead of its intended target.

As time ran out, it became the first time since Jan. 6 the Rangers went to overtime gaining a point in their quest to end the massive slide they carried upon them. The game got tense on three on three hockey that saw many shifts and opportunities come together but no goal scored. It got down to the nitty gritty with less than a minute to go. Detroit went for one more chance with Frans Nielsen and Daley on the line on defense.

It would be his response that ended the game for the Red Wings with a shot going through the five hole of Lundqvist to give him the game winner in consecutive games; something not done since 2006. “I heard the bench saying there was ten seconds left so I knew we had to get it to the net, so I got to the net and Nels made a great play and just got lucky putting my stick on it and it went in,” said Daley after the game. “When the D get to step up and help out it’s a big help.”

The victory was huge for the Red Wings who were three games from a wild card spot and just starting on their road trip to visit the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday.