The Rangers had a visceral response to the recent call for improvement in their five-on-five play.
However, they did not secure a 5-3 win over the Red Wings on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden without what has propelled them to fourth place in the entire NHL, their power play and goaltending, which had just as much of a hand in the victory as their strong showing at even strength.
It was the same Blueshirts we’ve seen all season, just better. More well-rounded, if you will.
Even the aspects that have been recurring issues for the Rangers, such as sitting on leads, which they did once again as the Red Wings scored three times during their third-period push.
A high-scoring Detroit team struggled for 40 of 60 minutes against Jonathan Quick, who made 25 saves in the victory.
The Rangers applied consistent offensive pressure in all situations, producing three goals at five-on-five and two on the power play.
Vincent Trocheck double-dipped and scored one of each for his third multi-goal game of his Rangers tenure, while Artemi Panarin notched a power-play assist and an even-strength goal.
Exploding for four goals in the second period, the Rangers exploited the Red Wings with precision and a high-octane effort.
They were suffocating in the offensive zone, no matter if they were skating at even strength or a man up.
It was all the same, just how head coach Peter Laviolette likes it.
In wake of their extended time in the defensive zone during their most recent shootout loss in Minnesota, the Rangers refused to be hemmed in their own end Tuesday night.
A majority of the game was played in Detroit’s zone, where the Blueshirts shot from everywhere and anywhere.
Trocheck struck just over a minute and a half into the game, when he charged in and ripped a tough-angled wrist shot that beat Red Wings netminder Ville Husso into the far top corner of the net.
To jump-start the scoring surge in the middle frame, Trocheck and Chris Kreider scored a power-play goal each in the span of 44 seconds to give the Rangers a 3-0 lead.
Defenseman Erik Gustafsson has filled in nicely for Adam Fox, who is on long-term injured reserve with a lower-body injury, on the power play, which has now scored in 10 of their first 12 games of the season.
Panarin’s 4-0 goal at the 11:21 mark embodied all that the Rangers were doing right during five-on-five play.
After some strong work along the boards from Alexis Lafreniere behind the Red Wings’ net, the 2020 first-overall pick dished to a wide-open Panarin for a point-blank shot that the Russian wing was not going to miss — especially at the rate he’s doing this season.
Laviolette had said after the Minnesota game that he would’ve liked to have seen the Rangers get that extra score at the end of their three-goal first-period surge last week, which was eviscerated by the Wild in their comeback victory.
The Rangers got an extra two goals Tuesday night, and it turns out that they needed them.
Detroit made the Rangers sweat a little in the final frame, cutting their lead to two with 6:11 left in regulation.
The visitors even pulled their goalie with more than two minutes left in the period.