Dan Cleary scored from a nearly impossible angle with 2:03 remaining to push the Detroit Red Wings to a 3-1 win over the Rangers in New York on Sunday.

Cleary shot the puck from the goal line in the Rangers' end and had it squeak through the pads of Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist, off the net-minder's skate and across the line for the winning tally.

"I knew I was in trouble when I couldn't really see it in front of me," Lundqvist said. "I was expecting a shot earlier, and then I just went far down and I kind of got stuck there. It is a tough one to let in that late."

Pavel Datsyuk scored the tying goal while Kris Draper added one into an empty net for the Red Wings (14-10-5), who rebounded from a 4-3 shootout loss to New Jersey the night before.

The Red Wings' Jimmy Howard made 28 saves in the win, including a breakaway chance and a Ryan Callahan penalty shot. His solid performance earned him starting duties in the team's next tilt.

"Howie was good," Red Wings coach Mike Babcock said. "He mentally battled and he hung in and he is going to start next game against St. Louis."

Brian Boyle had the lone goal for New York, while Lundqvist made 29 saves as the Blueshirts (14-14-1) failed to build on their 2-1 win in Buffalo on Saturday and have lost four of their last five.

Detroit dominated the play through the opening period, but the team headed into the second period facing a 1-0 deficit, thanks mostly to the play of Lundqvist. Despite playing in back-to-back games, the New York 'keeper was the difference through the first period where he made a handful of clutch stops as his team was outshot 13-5.

The Red Wings' best chance to beat Lundqvist in the first came off a Pavel Datsyuk deflection from a Todd Bertuzzi slap pass 10:54 in. The goalie made the initial save but bobbled the puck, which ended up loose in the crease. The Rangers' Vinny Prospal helped keep the puck out as Bertuzzi got a whack at it, and the puck slid harmlessly through the crease and about a foot from the goal line.

Lundqvist struck again a few plays later.

Appearing to be down and out, the Swedish goalie managed to rob fellow countryman Henrik Zetterberg on the doorstep, outstretching his left leg to deny the Detroit sniper.

Higgins, Boyle team up for tally

The Rangers got on the board first with a play similar to the Bertuzzi/Datsyuk deflection, as Boyle was the beneficiary of a pass from Chris Higgins for the 1-0 lead. Cruising up the middle of the slot, Boyle was able to get in front of Detroit's Justin Abdelkader and had his stick on the ice to tip the pass over Howard's shoulder.

The Rangers had more of a jump in their stride to start the middle frame. After jawing with Bertuzzi before a faceoff, Sean Avery picked off a pass from the Red Wings' Jonathan Ericsson in the New York zone and launched an outlet pass up the middle of the ice to spring Ryan Callahan on a breakaway. The New York forward was hooked down by Ericsson and awarded a penalty shot.

Callahan tried his best to deke out Howard as the skater moved the puck from left to right but couldn't squeeze the forehand shot past the Detroit goalie, who made a toe-save to keep it 1-0.

"It was desperation more than anything," Howard said. "I just threw a leg over there and I was able to stop it. He did a great move."

Lundqvist had the Madison Square Garden faithful chanting his name by again stopping Zetterberg in the second. The Detroit centre was denied in the blue paint on a one-time chance less than eight minutes into the second period, but Zetterberg did help solve Lundqvist at the tail end of a roughing penalty to Rangers defenceman Marc Staal just past the midway point of the game.

From the left faceoff circle, Zetterberg threw a backhand shot at the net, which Lundqvist stopped, but Datsyuk was there to slide the rebound through the legs of the Rangers goalie to knot it at 1-1.

Higgins had a chance to score on a clearcut breakaway soon after the Detroit tally, but Howard denied him with a blocker stop to keep the game tied heading into the third.

Rangers can't beat empty net

With 12:32 to go, the Rangers' Ales Kotalik missed his best chance of the night when a Del Zotto shot deflected off a Detroit stick and squirted over to Kotalik at the side of the net — he fired wide at the open cage.

Two more Rangers missed a mostly empty net on a Bertuzzi high sticking penalty. Higgins went wide on a chance off a Chris Drury pass across the slot, and then Avery couldn't find the handle on a similar pass from Higgins.

New York was granted three straight power-play chances in the third, but failed to capitalize.

"One of them we were all over the place," Babcock said. "That was goaltending, that wasn't penalty-killing. It was a disaster.

"Goaltending is your best penalty-killer. Sometimes that masks the mistakes you made."

Avery appeared to notch the go-ahead goal with less than five minutes to play as he powered toward the net with two Detroit defenders draped on top of him. The pesky left wing muscled the puck into the crease but the puck bounced onto the outside of the net as Howard covered it.

With just over two minutes to play, Cleary snuck a shot between Lundqvist's pads from the goal line and Draper added an empty net goal with seven seconds left to seal the win.

with files from the Associated Press