There are times when a team just has to take the win and run.
Well, the Rangers scooped up their empty-net abetted 4-0 win over the Red Wings on Saturday night and got the heck out of dodge after a game where the score could’ve — and probably should’ve — been inverted given how insufficiently the visitors played.
It wasn’t just that puck luck was on the Blueshirts’ side.
They were buried during five-on-five play through two periods, getting bested in attempts, 27-11, and gasping under a 12-3 disadvantage in high-danger chances.
The Red Wings’ expected goals percentage was a staggering 74.72 after 40 minutes.
Not once did Detroit have a difficult time entering the Rangers zone, where they spent a majority of the game. There was still a zero next to their logo after the final horn.
It was a borderline miracle.
The word “borderline” is doing a lot of work because this is who the Rangers have been lately.
They are still getting by on otherworldly goaltending — this time it was Jonathan Quick’s 61st career shutout via 37 saves — and special teams play.
Detroit was playing on the second night of a back-to-back, as well as in their third game in four days.
No one would’ve known that unless looking at the NHL calendar, considering how stuck in the mud the Rangers looked against the Red Wings five-on-five.
Red Wings goalie Ville Husso carried an NHL-worst goals-against average (9.42) into just his second game of the season, but the Rangers didn’t give him much of a workload with 23 shots on goal.
After handily defeating the Red Wings in their last two meetings in October by a combined score of 9-3, the Rangers did not get off to as strong of a start as they had previously this season against Detroit.
The Red Wings had the upper hand during five-on-five play through the opening 20 minutes.
They pushed even harder in the second period, over which the home team outshot the Rangers, 19-8.
And yet, the Rangers managed to take the lead on a power-play goal from Chris Kreider in the second half of the opening frame.
Playing with the lead helped steady the Blueshirts a bit, but they still found themselves under siege at times. It was obvious how much the complexion of the matchup had changed in just three and a half weeks.
It felt like the Red Wings were going to knot the game at one-all any moment.
Jimmy Vesey then buried a feed from behind Detroit’s net from Sam Carrick to double the Rangers’ lead at the 16:52 mark of the second period.
Less than a minute later, Mika Zibanejad set up Artemi Panarin for the 3-0 score.
That’s about when the Rangers started warming up the plane on the tarmac.
The third period was much more evenly played, which evened out the final statistics a bit, but Detroit still owned the possession game.
Leaning on their individual talent, both in goal scoring and in net, the Rangers’ team play is still in a state of disarray on both sides of the puck.
The best team in the NHL, the Winnipeg Jets, comes to Madison Square Garden on Tuesday.
At least the Rangers will be back home quickly in order to prepare.
