Copp helps Rangers top Red Wings in OT, gain ground in Metropolitan race

Andrew Copp scored at 1:34 of overtime to give the New York Rangers a 5-4 win against the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on Wednesday.

A blown defensive coverage allowed Copp and Artemi Panarin to break in 2-on-1 against Alex Nedeljkovic before Copp scored at the left post.
"I was surprised when I saw him at the back door," Panarin said. "He has good speed and I was able to get him the puck."
Chris Kreider's 46th goal of the season tied it 4-4 at 16:22 of the third period for the Rangers. The goal was Kreider's 24th on the power play, tying Jaromir Jagr's team record from 2005-06.
The Rangers trailed 2-1, 3-2 and 4-3 before rallying for the victory.
"It wasn't pretty, but the bottom line is that we got two points and we move on," New York coach Gerard Gallant said. "We kept ourselves close all night and we got the result in the end."

Panarin had a goal and two assists, and Alexandar Georgiev made 22 saves for the Rangers (44-19-5), who have won four straight, including a 3-2 win at the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday.
"This was huge," Georgiev said. "It wasn't the best game for me, but the guys kept scoring every time [the Red Wings] got the lead."
The Rangers are three points behind the Carolina Hurricanes for first place in the Metropolitan Division.
Moritz Seider had two assists, and Nedeljkovic made 29 saves for the Red Wings (26-32-9), who have lost four straight, including 11-2 to the Penguins on Sunday.
"This was a much better game than Sunday, but it is still a very frustrating night because we end up with another loss," Detroit captain Dylan Larkin said. "We had the lead, but we gave up a power-play goal and then we give up one in overtime and it's the same feeling again."
The Red Wings are 23 points out of the second wild card in the Eastern Conference.
Ryan Reaves gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead at 3:23 of the first period when he took advantage of Filip Hronek's turnover to score his third goal of the season and first since Jan. 19 (25 games).
Michael Rasmussen tied it 1-1 at 9:59 with a wrist shot that hit the stick of Rangers defenseman Jacob Trouba and fooled Georgiev.

Jakub Vrana gave Detroit a 2-1 lead on the power play at 17:23, his seventh goal in 11 games since returning from shoulder surgery, but Filip Chytil tied it 2-2 11 seconds later, at 17:34.
Tyler Bertuzzi gave the Red Wings a 3-2 lead on the power play 29 seconds into the second period before Panarin tied it 3-3 at 12:15.
"We've had a lot of games like this, and we've turned a lot of them back to our side," Panarin said. "But we can't always do that, so we have to be better than this."
Adam Erne gave the Red Wings their third lead of the game, 4-3 at 5:56 of the third period before Kreider's tying goal deflected in off Seider's skate.
"We have to find a way to kill that last penalty, that's just the reality of this league," Detroit coach Jeff Blashill said. "It didn't look like they could get anything past [Nedeljkovic] late in the game, but they got one off a skate and one off a missed assignment in overtime."
NOTES:Panarin has scored eight points (two goals, six assists) in a five-game point streak and has scored 24 points (10 goals, 14 assists) in 15 career games against the Red Wings. … Rangers center Mika Zibanejad had his 44th assist to tie his NHL career high from 2018-19. … Copp extended his point streak to five games (two goals, five assists) since he was acquired in a trade with the Winnipeg Jets on March 21. … Red Wings defenseman Danny DeKeyser had an assist in 19:47 after missing 10 games with an undisclosed injury. … Detroit forward Lucas Raymond had an assist for his 50th point, the second rookie this season to score 50 points (Michael Bunting, Toronto Maple Leafs, 20-31-51). … Raymond (20 goals, 30 assists) is the fourth Red Wings player to score 50 or more points in a season before the age of 21, joining Steve Yzerman (1983-84, 1984-85), Mark Osborne (1981-82) and Marcel Dionne (1971-72). … Gallant started Copp, Trouba and Tyler Motte, all Michigan natives who played for the USA Hockey National Team Development Program in suburban Detroit before playing college hockey at the University of Michigan. A fourth starter, defenseman K'Andre Miller, also played for the NTDP.