Lundqvist gets first shutout in two seasons, Rangers defeat Red Wings

DETROIT --Henrik Lundqvist made 33 saves for his first shutout in two seasons, and the New York Rangers defeated the Detroit Red Wings 1-0 at Little Caesars Arena on Saturday.

Lundqvist, whose last shutout was Nov. 19, 2017, against the Ottawa Senators, shut out Detroit for the fifth time in his career.
"It seems like there have been a lot of these games, including a few in this building," said Lundqvist, whose .941 save percentage against the Red Wings is the highest of any goalie with at least 10 games against them. "I really enjoy them, because every save is going to matter, and one goal might be enough to win the game."
WATCH: [All Rangers vs. Red Wings highlights]
The 37-year-old, who has 64 NHL shutouts, was playing for the first time since Jan. 11. He has been sharing time with Alexandar Georgiev and Igor Shesterkin.
"This has been a tough month," Lundqvist said. "For almost 14 years, I knew I was going to be out there playing, and now things are different."
Mika Zibanejad scored his 20th goal for New York (25-21-4), which swept a home-and-home against Detroit. The Rangers won 4-2 at Madison Square Garden on Friday.
"We won a 1-0 hockey game, and I'm not sure if anyone here thought we were capable of doing that," Rangers coach David Quinn said. "We were very sloppy in the first two periods, but [Lundqvist] was dialed in and excited.
"I liked our third period, we weren't anywhere near as dumb as we were in the first two."

Jonathan Bernier, playing for the first time since Jan. 10 after missing seven games with a lower-body injury, made 30 saves for the Red Wings (12-37-4), who have lost eight straight (0-7-1).
"I felt a little rusty in the first period," Bernier said. "There's nothing like game time for a goalie, so it was probably about midway through the game before I felt comfortable."
Detroit has been outscored 34-12 in the eight games.
"I thought we were way better tonight, we looked like a hockey team," Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. "That's the way we have to continue playing. It's a small step in the right direction."

Zibanejad scored on a power play at 12:13 of the first period, knocking in Chris Kreider's cross-crease pass.
Kreider left the game in the second period with an upper-body injury after sliding into the boards.
"We don't think it is anything long term, which is a little surprising after you look at it," Quinn said. "He's already feeling a lot better."
Valtteri Filppula, playing in his 1,000th NHL game, had a chance to tie the game at 15:40 of the second period, but his backhand hit the post with Lundqvist out of position.
"It sure would have been nice to score that one," Filppula said. "I'm proud of the fact that I've been able to stay healthy enough to play this long at the top level, but this was a tough loss."
Lundqvist also made a sprawling skate save on Dylan Larkin's breakaway at 19:49.
"He faked me, so I was down and just kicked out my leg," Lundqvist said. "I guess I kicked the puck with my skate, and after that I was swimming. I didn't know where the puck was, I just knew he didn't have it."

They said it

"It's been quirky, and I know [Lundqvist] hasn't played in five games. Three of them were against the Islanders and [Georgiev] happens to be a great matchup. If we hadn't played the same team three times in a five-game stretch he would have played. It's better to have three good goalies than not have any." -- Rangers coach David Quinn on Henrik Lundqvist's three-week layoff
"I thought we played a pretty solid game and we had our chances, but we didn't put any of them in. The puck was bouncing all over the place, but we couldn't get any of them to bounce onto our stick and go in. I had a breakaway and had [Lundqvist] beat and didn't put it in. That was pretty much the story of the night and the season." -- Red Wings forward Dylan Larkin

Need to know

Lundqvist played his 883rd NHL game, breaking a tie with John Vanbiesbrouck for ninth in League history. … Zibanejad has eight points (three goals, five assists) in the past five games. … Red Wings forward Frans Nielsen missed the game with an undisclosed injury, and defenseman Trevor Daley was held out after playing Friday.

What's next

Rangers:Host the Dallas Stars on Monday (7 p.m. ET; ESPN+, MSG+, FS-SW+, NHL.TV)
Red Wings: Host the Philadelphia Flyers on Monday (7:30 p.m. ET; NBCSN, SN, NBCSP+, NHL.TV)