The Rangers literally couldn’t get out of their own way on Saturday. A collision in warm-ups injured Darius Kasparitis and forced New York to play the game with only five defensemen. Beating Detroit is hard enough at equal strength and the Red Wings bullied their way to a 4-3 victory.
Detroit bombarded the net all game, getting 38 shots on Henrik Lundqvist and only several acrobatic saves kept the Rangers in the game. Despite being outmuscled, the Rangers still had their chances. Ville Nieminen barreled his way into the crease and used his glove to deflect the puck and tie the game at two. Jed Ortmeyer brought the Rangers within one with a nice goal late in the third period, but the Rangers could not get the equalizer.
The loss is disappointing, but not surprising given how tough Detroit is. The Rangers will have a chance to get back in the win column with games at Columbus, Pittsburgh and Boston this week.
Photo by AP/Carlos Osorio via Yahoo
