The New York Rangers face the Detroit Red Wings with both teams looking to improve from promising starts to the season. The Rangers have a 6-5-3 record and are hoping to bounce back from a rough 4-3 loss while the Red Wings are 7-3-3 but are looking to rebound from a 3-2 overtime loss. Both teams are looking to improve in their divisions and the Eastern Conference and the upcoming game should be a good one as a result.
The Rangers are off to a rocky start to the season with their offense struggling and scoring 2.79 goals per game. Artemi Panarin and Mika Zibanejad have scored 12 goals and 23 assists while Adam Fox is adding three goals and nine assists from the point but the rest of the offense has struggled. Only four skaters have five goals or more while only five skaters have scored six goals or more and opposing defenses can limit the top-heavy offense as a result.
The offense has struggled but the defense has let the Rangers down recently, allowing 3.00 goals per game including 12 goals in the last three games. Adam Fox and K'Andre Miller have combined for 1.8 defensive point shares but the rest of the unit has struggled, allowing opponents to easily find open shots on the net. The bright spot has been the play of goaltender Igor Shesterkin who has a .910 save percentage and a 2.58 goals-against average on 289 shots.