Vesey, Rangers rally in 3rd to defeat Red Wings

NEW YORK -- Jimmy Vesey scored with 4:15 remaining for the New York Rangers, who rallied in the third period to defeat the Detroit Red Wings 3-2 at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday.

Vesey put New York in front when he batted in his own rebound with his backhand after Red Wings goalie Ville Husso couldn't control Alexis Lafrenière's initial shot off a rush. The play was reviewed for a high stick, but the call on the ice was upheld.

The goal came 16 seconds after the Rangers killed a Red Wings power play.

"I'm not going to lie, I didn't want to look at the replay," Vesey said. "But my initial reaction was that it was good."

K'Andre Miller tied it in the third and had an assist, Lafreniere had two assists, and Igor Shesterkin made 25 saves for the Rangers (16-4-1), who were coming off a 5-1 loss to the Buffalo Sabres on Monday.

"That's going to happen during an 82-game season, you're going to have a couple off games, a couple off days," Miller said. "The biggest thing with this group is realizing that we have a really good team and we have a good structure. When everything is going we're usually winning those games. So it's sticking to what we're doing when we're winning those games and trying to play a full 60."

Robby Fabbri had a goal and an assist, Andrew Copp had two assists, and Husso made 38 saves for the Red Wings (11-7-3), who had their three-game winning streak end.

"Unacceptable to not come away with at least one point," Fabbri said. "We were in it. We had the lead for a while. We were playing our game that we played for the last handful of games. We fell asleep there for a couple minutes and that's the result."

Detroit was playing without captain Dylan Larkin (undisclosed injury) for the first time this season. Patrick Kane was a healthy scratch after signing a one-year, $2.75 million contract with the Red Wings on Tuesday.

Shayne Gostisbehere also left the game 2:15 into the third period after the defenseman was hit into the boards by Will Cuylle.

"No update on Shayne," Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde said. "Head. Hit from behind into the boards, and I know the (concussion) spotters pulled him and they were still evaluating him here after (the game)."

Artemi Panarin gave New York a 1-0 lead at 4:37 of the second period with a shot from the right circle off a cross-ice pass from Lafreniere. Miller started the play by intercepting Gostisbehere's pass in the neutral zone and carrying the puck into the offensive zone.

Moritz Seider tied it 1-1 with a power-play goal at 8:43, scoring with a wrist shot from inside the blue line through a screen by Copp.

Fabbri scored 23 seconds later at 9:06 to give Detroit a 2-1 lead, connecting from the edge of the right circle off a short backhand pass from Jonatan Berggren. He has scored in three of the past four games.

"At the end of the day wins feel better," said Fabbri, who was on the ice for both of the Rangers' third-period goals.

Miller tied it 2-2 at 9:14 of the third with a one-timer from the top of the right circle off a pass from Mika Zibanejad, who made a move around Fabbri in the left circle to make the play.

Zibanejad got the pass off just before Copp could close on him.

"It was unreal, unreal," Miller said of Zibanejad's play. "That was awesome."

After Vesey scored the go-ahead goal, Vincent Trocheck was called for tripping and New York had to kill a Detroit power play in the final 1:56 to preserve the win, including a 6-on-4 for the last 1:15 with Husso pulled for the extra skater.

The Rangers got a key block from Jacob Trouba on Alex DeBrincat’s one-timer from the slot with 10 seconds left, and Barclay Goodrow blocked Seider's shot from the point six seconds later before the the puck was cleared to seal the win.

"It was definitely a team win," Vesey said.

NOTES: New York defenseman Adam Fox had two shots on goal in 21:31 of ice time in his first game since Nov. 2. He missed the previous 10 games with a lower-body injury. ... Panarin has 14 points (four goals, 10 assists) during a season-opening nine-game home point streak. It's the longest home point streak to start a season by a Rangers player since Wayne Gretzky had a point in the first 10 home games in 1996-97. … New York has five wins when trailing in the third period, second in the NHL behind the Anaheim Ducks (six). … Trouba played his 700th NHL game, and Rangers defenseman Erik Gustafsson played his 400th. ... Seider's goal was his 105th NHL point (15 goals, 90 assists) in 185 games, tying Steve Chiasson (105 points in 206 games) for the second-most by a Red Wings defenseman before turning 23 years old. Reed Larson is first with 128 points in 168 games. Seider won't turn 23 until April 6.