The Detroit Red Wings played their worst game so far of the 2023-24 season, at least for the first 40 minutes, as they dropped last night’s game to the New York Rangers 5-3. They didn’t look like they were on the same level as the Rangers for a majority of the game.
Bad Penalties
The Rangers have a top-five power play, and tonight they showed why. Throughout the season, the Red Wings have continuously taken bad penalties in games, and last night was no different. In the second period, they took terrible penalties back-to-back, and it ended up costing them as the Rangers scored on both power plays, which made it 2-0 and 3-0. At the end of it, if you don’t take those penalties, who knows what happens, but based on the score, it would have been 3-3, and you may be in overtime with a point.
Overall Overmatched
Last night, the Rangers were just the better team, and they were faster in every aspect of the game. The Red Wings came out flat and allowed the Rangers to jump out to an early 1-0 lead, and Detroit just looked like they couldn’t compete in the first 40 minutes, and things continued to unravel. They did look better in the final 20 minutes and made a game of it.
Husso Struggled
Ville Husso got the start and ultimately didn’t look bad; he was on the receiving end of the Red Wings being overmatched. He kept them in the game at some points, but the bad penalties hit in the second period for the Red Wings, and he was left hung out to dry. In the third period, though, he stood tall and allowed the Red Wings to chip away. He ended the night by stopping 27 of 32 shots.
Red Wings Don’t Quit
Despite the loss, the Red Wings continue to show they have zero quit in them as they came out after their worst 40 minutes of hockey and played the Detroit style of hockey we are used to this season. They scored three goals, with the first two coming from the bottom six forwards; those goals came from the fourth line, with Michael Rasmussen and Klim Kostin finding the back of the net. Later on, Andrew Copp scored a nice goal to make it a little closer.
Next Up:
The Detroit Red Wings will return home to take on the Montreal Canadiens, who have fallen off after a hot start on Thursday night, with puck drop set for 7:00 PM.
ITR 39: Conference Finals – Inside The Rink
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