Trending: Howard spectacular in shootout win over Rangers

DETROIT -- The games between the Detroit Red Wings and New York Rangers, two Original Six foes, are almost always entertaining.
There's usually fantastic goaltending and electrifying offensive play.

That was certainly the case Friday night at Little Caesars Arena as the Wings defeated the Rangers in a shootout, 3-2, with Frans Nielsen scoring the only shootout goal.
The Wings are now 13-1 in their last 14 shootouts.
Nielsen now has 47 career shootout goals, the most by any player in league history and two more than Radim Vrbata.
Nielsen also broke a tie with T.J. Oshie for most shootout-deciding goals with 21.
The Red Wings are 14-16-7 overall and 7-6-6 at home while the Rangers are 20-13-5 overall and 5-7-2 on the road.
1. Jimmy Howard/Henrik Lundqvist: There is something truly special that happens when Howard and Lundqvist play in the same game. They bring out the best in each other. David Desharnais got a perfect pass from Jimmy Vesey behind the net and beat Howard at 17:35 of the first. Andreas Athanasiou tied the game in the second. In the third, rookie Vinni Lettieri, playing in his first NHL game, scored his first NHL goal by driving hard to the net. Lundqvist made the first save on Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg but couldn't prevent Zetterberg from scoring on his own rebound as he was falling down at 7:05 of the third period, tying the game at 2. Howard finished with 37 saves in regulation and overtime, including stopping Brady Skjei's penalty shot, and stopped Mats Zuccarello, Mika Zibanejad and Kevin Shattenkirk in the shootout. Lundqvist made 33 saves in regulation and overtime. In the shootout, Nielsen beat Lundqvist through the five-hole and stopped Gustav Nyquist. Zetterberg fooled Lundqvist but the puck rolled off the blade and he couldn't get a shot on net. In his career against the Rangers, Howard is 6-3-3 with a 1.72 goals-against average and .949 save percentage.
Quotable: "Those two guys were excellent tonight again. Both of them were excellent. Obviously Jimmy dug in, made a penalty shot save, was great in the shootout. I thought he was excellent. I thought their guy was excellent as well. It was another great goaltending performance." - Wings coach Jeff Blashill
Quotable II: "It's always fun, it's always a great battle, he's one of the best in the league and he has been for a while. It helps being my childhood team, always enjoy going out and playing against them, so it was a great atmosphere here tonight and great for us to find a way to come out on top." - Howard
Quotable III: "I think he gets fired up for sure. I think everyone sees it. I think he's got a mutual respect with Lundqvist. I don't like the goalie battle, but I love seeing Jim play that way. He's a great guy, works hard every day. To see the year he's having, it's awesome." - Dylan Larkin
2.Andreas Athanasiou: Everyone knows that Athanasiou has unbelievable speed and some pretty nifty hands to go along with that. But it had been 15 games since Athanasiou had scored a goal, with his last coming Nov. 19 against the Colorado Avalanche. With Anthony Mantha out due to a nagging injury, Athanasiou spent some time on a line with Larkin and Tomas Tatar. Larkin found Athanasiou heading toward the Rangers zone and Athanasiou beat both defensemen Nick Holden and Ryan McDonagh to the puck and sent it from the left circle to the top of the net past Lundqvist at 7:46. The goal was Athanasiou's sixth of the season and tied the game at 1. A few minutes later, Larkin was in the right circle and saw Athanasiou in the left circle but this time Lundqvist slid over in time to make the spectacular stop to deny Athanasiou. Athanasiou had eight shots on goal in a career-high 20:59. Only Henrik Zetterberg at 22:33 and Larkin at 21:22 played more among forwards.
Quotable: "I've had a quite a bit of chances and the bounces just weren't there. Goalies have made some great saves, posts have gotten in the way. It was just kind of one of those things that just kept happening. I knew eventually one was going to pop in. I'm happy it was tonight." - Athanasiou
Quotable II: "I like either way, to be honest with you. I think he's good at the center position. I wouldn't say I prefer him at the wing, with one exception, he's got to win more face-offs if he wants to be a center in the National Hockey League. I think both ways, the more he uses his speed away from the puck and not just wait for it to come to him and then take off, I think when he uses his speed away from the puck he's a much more effective player. Example was the goal tonight. At center, he is real good in down low coverage, closing on people. To me, Double-A's game totally comes down to when he works and competes hard he's a really good player." - Blashill
3. Brendan Smith: Just days before he was traded to the Rangers on February 28, 2017, defenseman Brendan Smith was telling the assembled media how much he would miss Detroit and especially Joe Louis Arena if he was moved. Smith loved being a Red Wing, but the Blueshirts made the Wings an offer for Smith that Detroit could not refuse. In exchange for Smith, Detroit received a second-round pick in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft and a third-round pick in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft, which turned out to be center Zachary Gallant from the Peterborough Petes. On Friday, Smith returned to Detroit for the second time since the trade and played his first game at Little Caesars Arena. In 30 games this season, Smith has not scored a goal, but he does have seven assists and is a plus-11, which is second best on the Rangers. Earlier this year, Smith was a healthy scratch in eight games through November 15, but he now has played in 19 consecutive contests. In Friday's game, Smith was held pointless in 16:28 of ice time, but he registered three hits and three blocked shots.
Quotable: "Playing here (Little Caesars Arena) for the first time was such a great thrill for me. Checking out the facilities, it's unbelievable, it's everything we were talking about (when he was a Red Wing) and even more. So I was really excited about it and it's only going to get better. I know the ice is probably not a requirement at the moment, but that's a work in progress. If that's the worst thing right now that's pretty impressive. It's just really good to be back and see old faces. It's cool, it's my home away from home." - Smith