Igor Shesterkin made 31 saves, Mika Zibanejad had a goal and two assists and the New York Rangers defeated the visiting Detroit Red Wings 4-1 on Monday night.
Alexis Lafreniere, Chris Kreider and Reilly Smith also scored for the Rangers, who have scored 16 goals while going 2-0-1 to start the season. Artemi Panarin had three assists.
Smith, obtained by New York in a July trade with the Pittsburgh Penguins, logged his first goal as a Ranger.
Shesterkin bounced back after allowing six goals in an overtime loss to the Utah Hockey Club on Saturday.
Dylan Larkin scored for the Red Wings, who fell to 1-2-0. Alex Lyon made 24 saves in his first appearance of the season.
The teams face off again Thursday in Detroit.
Lafreniere made it 1-0 at 11:45 of the first period. Panarin entered the zone in the middle of a three-on-two and fed Lafreniere, who scored on a one-timer from the right faceoff dot.
Larkin tied the score 1-1 with two seconds remaining in the opening period, knocking in a centering feed from Justin Holl from his knees in the slot.
Kreider made it 2-1 with a power-play goal at 17:05 of the second period. After the Rangers won a faceoff, Panarin passed across the slot to Zibanejad, whose shot was deflected past Lyon by Kreider.
Shesterkin robbed J.T. Compher alone in front with 1:58 remaining in the second period. The Rangers goalie made 14 of his saves in the second period.
Smith increased the lead to 3-1 at 4:51 of the third period. Zibanejad won a faceoff and Smith grabbed the puck behind him and fired a wrist shot past Lyon from the right circle.
The Red Wings pulled Lyon for the extra attacker with 2:42 remaining, but Zibanejad scored into the empty net from the top of the right circle off a pass from Panarin with 1:22 left. Panarin has five assists in three games.
–Field Level Media
