The Detroit Red Wings refused to be denied a fourth consecutive victory when they visited the New York Rangers on Monday.
Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg had a goal and an assist apiece as the Red Wings rallied to beat the Rangers 4-3 before a capacity crowd of 18,200 at Madison Square Garden.
Robert Lang fires a shot at Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist on Monday.
(Mary Altaffer/Associated Press)
Zetterberg scored the decisive goal with 7:24 remaining as he stripped Blair Betts of the puck and fired a shot through heavy traffic.
It was Zetterberg's 22nd goal of the season and came as Aaron Ward was serving a hooking minor, the lone penalty of the third period.
Detroit has taken nine of the last 10 meetings between the Original Six rivals.
"We haven't had a lot of come-from-behind wins this year," Red Wings defenceman Mathieu Schneider said. "It's huge for a team when you feel like you can win, no matter what the deficit is."
Michael Nylander posted one goal and one assist, while Marcel Hossa also tallied in a losing cause for the Rangers (25-24-4).
Brendan Shanahan opened the scoring for New York with his team-high 27th goal of the season.
It was the first time Shanahan faced the Red Wings since leaving Detroit to sign a $4-million US free-agent contract with New York last July 12.
"There is lots of hockey left, but we're digging ourselves a hole," said Shanahan, who won three Stanley Cups in nine seasons with Detroit.
Jiri Hudler and Robert Lang rounded out the scoring as the Red Wings (34-14-6) outshot New York 26-20.
Shaky start for Hasek
Shanahan staked New York to a 1-0 lead just 2:18 into the contest, corralling Matt Cullen's centring pass and beating Dominik Hasek with a wrist shot high to the blocker side.
Only 13 seconds later, Hasek misplayed the puck to Nylander, who chipped it into the vacated net for his 18th and a 2-0 lead.
"All I can say is I made some mistakes that I usually don't make," Hasek said.
After Datsyuk deflected Zetterberg's shot for his 15th at the 7:24 mark, Hossa tallied his third on a quick shot with 5:36 to go in the first period.
"It was the worst period for me this year," Hasek said after surrendering three goals on seven shots.
"I feel like all three goals I should save. It actually was a 7 o'clock game [and] I thought it was starting at 7:30."
Detroit failed to close the gap in the second period, but counted 2:31 into the third when Valtteri Filppula stripped Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist of the puck and fed Hudler for his ninth.
"It was one of those things that happened [and] they took advantage," Lundqvist said. "It was a tough break."
Lang tied it 3-3 at 10:54, tipping a Dan Cleary rebound between Lundqvist's pads for his 13th.
Prior to Monday's loss, New York acquired forwards Sean Avery and John Seymour from the Los Angeles Kings for forwards Jason Ward, Marc-Andre Cliche and Jan Marek.
