NEW YORK _ Jimmy Howard gave the performance the Detroit Red Wings expected as he starred at a favorite arena.
Howard had made 25 saves by the end of the second period Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden as the Wings took on the New York Rangers. He got beat early on a fluke but otherwise came up big, especially during a long penalty stretch in the second period.
Howard stopped 32 shots, and the Wings won, 2-1.
Thomas Vanek scored on a power play in the second period, and Drew Miller made it 2-1 in the third period.
The Wings trailed a minute into the game when Ryan McDonagh fired a shot from the blue line and the puck deflected in off Mika Zibanejad. The Wings responded with a decent attack, especially when Tomas Tatar ripped a shot from the left circle, only Henrik Lundqvist was there with his glove. Howard, making his first start of the season, was busier, with stops including stacking his pads on Kevin Hayes. Frans Nielsen whipped a backhand at Lundqvist near the end of the first period. A dicey stretch saw Brady Skjei hit a post and Jimmy Vesey shoot just wide as the Rangers ate up zone time.
In all, the Wings allowed 14 shots.
A power play materialized 11 seconds into the second period, but it was Michael Grabner who had the best chance when he sped off on a breakaway; Howard came through with a left pad save. Rick Nash, Mats Zuccarello and McDonagh each tested Howard just as the power play vaporized.
A second straight power play did the magic: Nielsen shot through traffic, and Vanek got the tip for his third goal of the season. Penalty trouble then arose, as the Wings got caught for another too-many-men situation, and soon after Luke Glendening went off, setting the Rangers up for 55 seconds of 5-on-3 play. Brendan Smith deepened the ruts to the box, in all leaving the Wings short-handed for five minutes and demanding five saves from Howard.
Glendening stripped the puck off Lundqvist to set up a goal in the opening minute of the third period, sending the puck out front for Miller to finish. Miller and Glendening teamed up to create another chance during a short-handed stretch. The Wings then got 1:23 with a two-man advantage but twice had to retrieve the puck from their own end, essentially wasting the opportunity to get some breathing room. Jesper Fast knocked the puck into Detroit's net with 3:40 left but his stick was high, and officials immediately said no goal.
