Rangers vs. Red Wings: Lineups, storylines seeking 4th straight win
The last time that the New York Rangers won four games in a row was 13 months ago, Oct. 14-22, 2024. That winning streak began with a home-ice victory over the Detroit Red Wings. And on Sunday at Madison Square Garden, the Rangers try to extend their current winning streak to four, when they host the very same Red Wings.
Perhaps there’s a bit of synergy in that. Or more likely it’s just a coincidence. More importantly, the Rangers are beginning to win games consistently again and have the look of a playoff contender after missing the postseason in 2024-25.
The Rangers (10-7-2) have won seven of nine (7-2-0), buoyed by a pair of three-game win streaks. They played “a complete game,” per coach Mike Sullivan, in a 2-1 shootout victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday, when they didn’t allow an even-strength goal against one of the League’s best 5v5 teams.
Strong goaltending and a vastly improved team defense is at the heart of New York’s success recently, and really all season, which is now roughly a quarter of the way done. The Rangers allow 2.47 goals per game, second-fewest in the NHL. They are one of four teams to allow one goal or fewer seven times this season.
Of course, their offense is picking it up recently, too. The Rangers scored 13 goals in wins earlier this week against the Nashville Predators and Tampa Bay Lightning. But Saturday, they grinded out a tight one-goal victory on the road, where they are a League-best 9-1-1 away from MSG.
After a historically bad start on home ice (0-6-1), the Rangers seek their second straight home win, on the heels of that 6-3 slump-busting first victory over the Predators on Monday.
The Red Wings (10-7-1) also played overtime Saturday, and are just one point behind the Rangers in the Eastern Conference standings. Detroit blew a 4-1 lead and lost to the Buffalo Sabres 5-4, when Mattias Samuelsson scored 1:05 into overtime.
After winning eight of their first 11 games, the Red Wings cooled off and are 2-4-1 since. That includes a 4-1 loss at home to the Rangers nine days ago.
And that Rangers victory shouldn’t come as a surprise because they’ve won seven straight against the Red Wings, and are 23-4-8 against them since March 21, 2012.
3 storylines when Rangers host Red Wings
1. Laf reaches milestone
Alexis Lafreniere plays his 400th NHL game Sunday, and comes in playing his best hockey of the season. Since Oct. 28, the 24-year-old forward has nine points (three goals, six assists) in nine games. He had a goal and an assist last week in Detroit and a season-high three points (one goal, two assists) against the Predators.
Lafreniere is third on the Rangers with 12 points and eight assists in 19 games, averaging a career-high 17:32 TOI.
He reaches the 400-game milestone in quick fashion. Lafreniere’s missed only three games in his career, dating to 2020-21. He recently passed 200 points in the NHL and is four goals away from 100 in his career.
2. Kid swap
A pair of top Rangers prospects swapped places Sunday morning, when defenseman Scott Morrow was recalled from Hartford of the American Hockey League, and forward Gabe Perreault was reassigned to the minors.
Morrow could make his Rangers debut if Will Borgen again is unable to play. The veteran missed the game in Columbus due to an upper-body injury. Morrow, acquired from the Carolina Hurricanes in the K’Andre Miller trade, had two points (one goal, one assist) in 11 games with Hartford.
Perreault, New York’s first-round pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, had one assist in three games with the Rangers this past week. However, the 20-year-old saw diminishing ice time and the writing appeared to be on the wall that he could go back to Hartford when Will Cuylle took his top-six spot during the past two games.
Recent scratches Juuso Parssinen and Jonny Brodzinski are options to replace Perreault in the lineup Sunday.
3. Kane is still able
Patrick Kane opened the scoring for the Red Wings on Saturday with a neat deflection for his third goal in nine games this season, and first in four games after returning from a three-week absence due to an upper-body injury.
The 36-year-old can still play, evidenced by his near point-per-game pace this season (eight points in nine games), and solid production in 2024-25, when he scored 21 goals and totaled 59 points in 71 games. The former Rangers forward is five goals away from becoming the second United States-born player to reach 500 in his NHL career (Mike Modano had 561 on his way to the Hockey Hall of Fame). Kane has 1,351 points, 24 away from passing Modano (1,374) as the highest-scoring U.S.-born player in League history. He’s also three points shy from passing Guy Lafleur for 30th all-time in the NHL.
The three-time Stanley Cup champion has 20 points (seven goals, 13 assists) in 26 games against the Rangers.
New York Rangers projected lineup
Will Cuylle — Mika Zibanejad — J.T. Miller
Artemi Panarin — Vincent Trocheck — Alexis Lafreniere
Juuso Parssinen — Noah Laba — Conor Sheary
Adam Edstrom — Sam Carrick — Taylor Raddysh
Vladislav Gavrikov — Adam Fox
Carson Soucy — Braden Schneider
Urho Vaakanainen — Scott Morrow
Jonathan Quick
Igor Shesterkin
Rangers vs. Red Wings: When, where, what time, how to watch
Who: New York Rangers vs. Detroit Red Wings
When: Sunday Nov. 16 at 7 p.m. ET
Where: Madison Square Garden
How to watch: MSG
