RECAP: Special teams the difference in Red Wings’ 5-2 loss to Rangers

DETROIT -- Head coach Derek Lalonde pointed to special teams as the deciding factor in the Detroit Red Wings’ 5-2 loss to the New York Rangers at Little Caesars Arena on Thursday night.

The Red Wings (1-3-0; 2 points) finished 1-for-5 on the power play, which included 42 seconds at 5-on-3. The Rangers (3-0-1; 7 points) went 3-for-4.

“You’re going to go through these types of stretches throughout the year, but this just happens to be on the front end,” Lalonde said. “We knew it’d be a tough stretch, just a little frustrated in the way some of these have played out. Again, I’ll take our game in New York [on Monday]. We probably get points against most teams in the league the other night and tonight, just our lack of execution on special teams.”

Detroit found itself trailing 1-0 at 8:30 of the first period after Artemi Panarin took a pass from Vincent Trocheck and buried it short side.

Panarin then pushed it to 2-0 at 15:39 of the first period, whipping a shot past Red Wings goalie Cam Talbot on a power play from above the right face-off circle for his second goal of the night.

Just 1:27 into the second period, Moritz Seider ripped the puck top shelf to cut Detroit’s deficit in half 2-1. J.T. Compher and Lucas Raymond had the assists on Seider’s first goal of the season.

“I thought we had a great start to the second,” Lalonde said. “Obviously we put one in, had a couple chances and after that special teams took over.”

The defending Presidents’ Trophy winners reclaimed their two-goal lead at 8:45 of the second period, as Trocheck’s redirect goal on a power play made it 3-1.

Netting his third goal of the night at 11:42 of the second period, Panarin completed his hat trick to extend it to 4-1. Adding another for the Rangers just 38 seconds later, Victor Mancini scored his first career NHL goal to push it to 5-1.

“It was three [man-advantage goals] in a row,” Ben Chiarot said about how the game got away from Detroit. “That’s a top power play. You give them that many chances, they can be dangerous and get feeling good.”

On a power play late in regulation, Compher finished Chiarot’s feed to make it 5-2 at 16:41. The secondary assist on Compher’s second goal of the season went to Erik Gustafsson.

Netminder Alex Lyon stopped all 15 shots he faced in relief after Talbot allowed five goals on 18 shots for the Red Wings. Goaltender Jonathan Quick turned away 29 shots for the Rangers.

“We’re playing stiff competition, which is good for us early in the season,” Chiarot said. “It’s a good measuring stick. It shows us where we got to get to. We have a lot of work to do. Thankfully it’s early in the season, so we can kind of learn our lesson early as opposed to fooling ourselves and winning a couple of easy ones, then facing teams like this down the stretch when we really need those points.”

NEXT UP: The Red Wings will look to rebound on Saturday afternoon when they visit the Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena.

POSTGAME

Lalonde on what adjustments Detroit tried to make on its penalty kill after Monday's loss

“We just got slow on it. You get a little gun shy when you lose some confidence and your pace on your penalty kill. To their credit, they scored three goals from distance, but they got a stick on it. Simple power play, as talented as they are. Just thought we got a little slow with our pace and rotation, and gave them a little time to move the puck around the perimeter and get their looks.”

Lalonde on bringing Lyon in for Talbot

“Have to slow it down, but the goalie change sometimes is your chance to get a timeout.”

Compher on if failing to convert on a 5-on-3 chance in the first period took away any momentum

“I don’t think so. We were in a good spot after the first. We got some good chances on the 5-on-3, I think Cat had an empty net that he missed. There were some good chances. I don’t think it really zapped us.”

Chiarot on improving defensively as a team

“Obviously playing in our own end, defending the rush and sorting things out when we’re coming in our own end. These are all things that we work on every day. It’s obviously very early in the season. Things that we have to continue to work on and get better at. Those are the most important things for us right now, is how we defend. I think the rest of the stuff will happen on its own.”