Recap: Panarin, Lafrenière Show Up in 4-1 Win Over Detroit

Coming off a tough loss to the Carolina Hurricanes, the New York Rangers were back at it on the road to pay a visit to the Detroit Red Wings for their first meeting of the season. It would be an eventful night for the Rangers as Jaroslav Chmelar made his NHL debut, slotting in on the fourth line alongside Sam Carrick and Jusso Parssinen. 

He would piece together a solid first outing as the Rangers played an overall strong game to get back on track, picking up a huge pair of points against a streaky Detroit Red Wings team full of familiar faces.

First Period

After a prolonged puck drop thanks to the Red Wings celebrating their centennial season with some focus on their 1950 Cup championship, of course coming against the Rangers, we were underway at Little Caesar's Arena. The Rangers got off to a solid start with Jonny Brodzinski picking up one of the first scoring chances of the night with a blistering one timer that former friend Cam Talbot was able to turn away. 

About six minutes into the period, the Rangers headed to the power play as another former friend in Andrew Copp was sent off for hooking Conor Sheary. This would help the top unit finally snap the teams cold streak with the man advantage as Artemi Panarin found Will Cuylle unattended at the far face-off circle where he was able to let a quick shot go, finding the back of the net to make it a 1-0 game. 

Less than a minute after the initial call against Copp, the Rangers would take their first penalty of the night as Adam Fox was called for holding Lucas Raymond. Michigan-native Noah Laba would get an exciting opportunity as he found himself on a shorthanded breakaway that was shut down by Talbot. A pretty move, but not enough to fool the veteran netminder. As play went the other way, another veteran netminder in Jonathan Quick came up with a huge save with some help from a Braden Schneider backcheck to keep the Red Wings off the board, resulting in them coming up empty handed on the man advantage. 

Alas, as the teams returned to even strength, J.T. Compher was able to tie things up. Schneider pushed down low to attack the puck carrier which left Compher all alone in front of the net. Mason Appleton was able to dish the puck out to him as Schneider threw a hit on Copp to make it a 1-1 game. 

All things considered, not a bad start to the game for either side. Shots after the initial twenty were 13-7 in Detroit’s favor but the Rangers saw some quality chances. The third line in particular was standing out with Laba seemingly showing up all over the ice. Understandable considering he had over thirty friends and family in attendance for his homecoming NHL game. 

Second Period

Just two and a half minutes into the second stanza, the Rangers got their second chance at the power play as Albert Johansson was called for tripping up Sheary. While they wouldn’t convert the second time around, they would soon after the teams returned to even strength. A great effort from Lafrenière found Noah Laba in the blue paint, allowing him to deflect a bouncing puck into the back of the net. Lafrenière picked up his 200th career point on the play and Laba picked up his third goal of the season in front of family and friends in his homestate. 2-1 Rangers. 

Nearing the midway point of the outing, Quick came out to play the puck with yet another former friend in Patrick Kane pressing hard in his direction. Quick ended up fumbling the rolling puck a bit which nearly resulted in Kane tying the game but thankfully some strong backchecking from Schneider and Soucy helped keep the puck out of harm's way. Schneider may have made a poor decision on the one Red Wings goal but both he and Soucy had some really strong defensive efforts throughout the night. 

Soon thereafter, the Rangers were back to the penalty kill as Will Borgen was sent off for hooking. Throughout which, the Rangers picked up a couple of exciting shorthanded chances which helped limit Detroit’s offense to keep the score the same. 

With about a minute and a half to go, Will Cuylle nearly made it a 3-1 game as he was fed with another pass breaking towards the net to Talbot’s right. As Cuylle let the shot that ended up sneaking through Talbot’s legs go, J.T. Miller made some contact with the Red Wings netminder which nullified the goal to keep it a 2-1 game. Bit of an iffy call but per usual, no one actually knows what goaltender interference really looks like. 

In the final minute of play, the Rangers went back to the power play as Axel Sandin-Pellikka was sent off for cross-checking amidst a netfront battle with Sheary, drawing his third penalty of the evening. While it wouldn’t leave enough time for the Rangers to generate anything on the power play, the Rangers skated off with a 2-1 lead. Shots after two were now 24-19 in Detroit’s favor with the Rangers still leading in both high danger and normal scoring chances.

Third Period

The Rangers kicked off the third with a minute and a half still remaining on the carry over penalty but wouldn’t be able to convert on this one either. They gave Detroit a pretty golden scoring chance as Compher and Copp ended up on an odd-man rush but couldn’t find the net on the shot attempt. Quick ended up getting a piece of it with his glove before the puck sailed over the net and went off the glass. 

Scary moment for the Rangers about five minutes in as Cuylle blocked a one timer from defenseman Simon Edvinsson which left him down on the ice in some serious pain. He would need some assistance in getting off the ice and didn’t put any pressure on the leg the shot hit which was not an encouraging sign by any means. Thankfully, it wouldn’t be the end of his night as he would return to the bench just a few shifts later. 

The Rangers would shortly thereafter score one for Cuylle as the whole head shaving method seemed to pay dividends for Panarin who already had two assists on the night. A nice cross-crease pass from Mika Zibanejad found Panarin at the doorstep where he was able to send a shot through Talbot and in for his third of the season to extend the Rangers’ lead 3-1 for real this time. 

The Red Wings picked up a chance on another odd-man rush on the following shift and a save from Quick sent Alexis Lafrenière on a breakaway at the other end of the ice. Lafrenière always seems to show up against the Red Wings as he pulled off a beautiful deke to sneak one through, making it a 4-1 game. 

The Red Wings ended up with a power play shortly after the Rangers extended their lead as they were assessed an unsportsmanlike conduct. Uncertain what it was for exactly but nonetheless, the Rangers were tasked with killing off a fourth Red Wings power play and were successful in doing so.

With about six minutes to go, Jaroslav Chmelar got caught in an intense board battle with veteran defenseman Travis Harmonic who not for nothing, is quite the tough customer. Chmelar more than held his own and came out on top of a pretty quick scrap.

That would do it for this one as the Rangers closed things out and secured a huge bounce back win. An all around strong outing but especially important with Panarin and Lafrenière producing and performing the way they did.

The Rangers are right back at it tomorrow night on home ice for a centennial celebration of their own as they host their Long Island rivals for the first time this season.