Detroit, MI (SportsNetwork.com) - Darren Helm recorded the tie-breaking goal 7:40 into the third period as the surging Detroit Red Wings rallied for a 3-2 victory over the New York Rangers at Joe Louis Arena.
The Red Wings trailed 2-0 deep into the second period before getting goals from Riley Sheahan and Luke Glendening just over a minute apart. Jimmy Howard stoned the Rangers over the final two frames, finishing with 26 saves in Detroit's sixth win in seven games and the 500th of head coach Mike Babcock's career.
"(Howard) just put up a wall of plywood there," said Babcock. "If they get three (goals), we don't win, so it was a real good job by Howie in the final 40 minutes."
Cam Talbot stopped 31-of-34 shots for New York, which received early tallies from Kevin Klein and Rick Nash in its second straight loss.
Talbot was mostly sharp filling in for a resting Henrik Lundqvist, but allowed two goals within a 61-second span in the second period that erased the Rangers' 2-0 lead.
Sheahan spun around and fired a shot past Talbot from close range to get Detroit on the board with 5:46 remaining in the middle session. The Red Wings kept up the pressure following the ensuing faceoff, with Glendening netting the equalizer by alertly knocking through a puck that Talbot couldn't control after temporarily stopping a Detroit rush.
"We were playing a pretty solid game. They got a couple odd-man rushes at the end of the (second) period that cost us," said Rangers defenseman Marc Staal.
The Red Wings then dominated the early stages of the third, getting the go- ahead score when Tomas Tatar split the New York defense with a pass that Helm took in and landing a wrister over Talbot's glove.
Howard made the lead stand by making three saves in the final minute, including a close-range denial of Lee Stempniak with Talbot pulled for an extra skater.
Klein opened the scoring midway through a strong first period for the Rangers, with the defenseman backhanding in the rebound of his own initial attempt that was blocked in front of the Detroit net.
Nash made it a 2-0 lead just over five minutes later by beating a defenseless Howard on a breakaway that started with a crisp outlet pass from Derick Brassard.
Game Notes
The Rangers went 0-for-7 on the power play ... The Red Wings snapped a five- game losing streak in the series, having last beaten New York on Feb. 7, 2011 ... The Rangers lost for the seventh time in their last eight visits to Detroit, but registered a 4-3 overtime win over the Red Wings at Madison Square Garden on Nov. 5 ... Defenseman Dan Boyle returned for New York after missing Monday's loss to Tampa Bay with the flu.
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