Igor Shesterkin and Mika Zibanejad lead the Rangers to victory

NEW YORK – Mika Zibanejad was talking about Reilly Smith's first goal as a Ranger, but he could have been talking about himself.

“As far as confidence goes, you get more energy when you get one,” the Rangers' No. 1 center said after Monday's 4-1 win over the Detroit Red Wings at Madison Square Garden. “You feel like you’re getting a little bit of loot back. You can skate a little bit more without getting tired, so of course it’s nice to have the first step behind you.”

So was he feeling like he had a three-point performance that wiped out the zeroes he had recorded in the first two games of the season?

“I’m just glad we won, honestly,” Zibanejad said, suppressing the slightest hint of a smile.

It's become a bit of a touchy subject for the 31-year-old, who is coming off the worst five-on-five season in his eight years with the Rangers and trying to block out any negativity surrounding it.

A vocal section of the fan base pounced after two subpar games to start the new season, but Monday reminded us that it's far too early to jump to conclusions.

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“This was only the third game of the year,” said head coach Peter Laviolette. “It's not like we're at Game 12. If you go back and watch the games, in Pittsburgh (opening night) I thought that line (with Zibanejad, Smith and Chris Kreider) was really good. I thought they played a great game and were productive tonight.

The only blip came in the middle game – the 6-5 overtime loss to Utah on Saturday, which Zibanejad finished with a team-worst minus-4 mark. Laviolette acknowledged Monday morning that “the way we defended was a little off,” but was intentional about lumping that line in with the rest of the team.

Zibanejad is understandably being held to a higher standard given his importance to the Rangers' chances. They're at their best when No. 93 is at his best, and if he can translate Monday's points into a winning streak or a productive season, they'll be all the better off.

He has earned the benefit of the doubt throughout his years in New York, including a 2022-23 season in which he set a career-high (91) while also being voted the team's MVP. But it's also far too early to make a judgment call about the 2024-25 season, one way or another.

The points were clearly positive, as were his five shots on goal from a total of nine attempts, which was a team-high. But not all statistics paint a pretty picture. According to Natural Stat Trick, Zibanejad's line was outscored 10-4 while recording just two shots on goal at five-on-five and a low xGF percentage of 8.54%.

There's still a lot to prove – and no one is more aware of it than he is.

“We’re close to clicking, but I can’t say (we’re there yet),” Zibanejad said. “We are working on it. We want it to work as well as everyone else. It's frustrating when we don't connect, but of course we'll keep working on it. I think we're doing a good job of just hanging in there.” We all believe we'll be successful and have a good line, but I can't say, 'Yeah, that's it.'

“I understand why he rejected the 88”

The Rangers were hot and cold in response to Laviolette's pregame call to “take things easy in terms of defense,” but they didn't need to play Lockdown D given the way Igor Shesterkin is playing.

The Blueshirts goalie has gone from great to not so great to great again over the first three games of the season, with Monday's performance very much a reflection of the good Igor is.

“He’s special,” Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde told reporters before delivering the evening’s statement. “I can understand why he turned down the $88 (million). Good agent.”

The soon-to-be NHL's highest-paid goaltender helped New York win, with his best performance coming in the second period.

The Rangers allowed 14 shots on goal and 11 dangerous scoring chances in the middle 20 minutes, and Shesterkin didn't budge on any of them. This included a Detroit power play with six shots on goal in a span of 1:19, three of which were narrowly scored by JT Compher, and a seventh windmill stop on Alex Debrincat that did not count due to a high stick just before.

“If we don't get the stops in the D-zone, and obviously with the long transitions in the second, we get a little disorganized,” Zibanejad said. “It's a good team we're playing against and they had some good chances. But Shesty made us big and that’s what we needed.”

The 28-year-old goaltender finished the game with 31 saves, helping the Rangers improve their record to 2-0-1 heading into a three-game road trip that began Thursday night in Detroit .

“We've tightened up a little bit before him, but there's still a lot of work to do,” Laviolette said. “Goalkeepers are there to make big saves and he’s really good at that. I thought he played really well tonight.”

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Offense wasn't a problem for the Blueshirts, who have now scored 15 goals in three games played.

Alexis Lafrenière opened the scoring at 11:45 of the first period, finishing off a shot by Artemi Panarin with a one-timer for his second goal of the season.

“We've talked about this play before,” said Panarin, who had three assists and now leads the NHL with seven points (two goals and five assists). “When I go to the middle, he pulls back a little bit for the one-timer.”

The Red Wings evened the score at 1-1 with a disappointing goal in the final second of the opening period, with the Panarin-Vincent Trocheck-Lafrenière line losing sight of Dylan Larkin and allowing him to slide into the gap. That seemed to give Detroit some momentum, but Shesterkin put a stop to it with his outstanding second period.

The Rangers eventually steadied themselves and took a 2-1 lead with 2:55 left in the period when Kreider scored his third goal of the season, a patented net redirection off a half shot, half pass from Zibanejad.

“If you think that was a shot, then I’m in trouble,” Zibanejad quipped. “Maybe it’s because of the other vaccinations I’ve had.”

At the start of the third period, Smith extended the lead by securing a wrist throw from the top of the right circle to make it 3-1. It was the second assist of the night, a faceoff win for Zibanejad, who later scored an unanswered goal.

“You never want these to last too long,” Smith said of his first goal as a Ranger. “It’s nice to be worth it. A bit of a hit and miss, but I'll take it. … I thought more like I wanted to score and help the team win.”

New York also tightened its defense in the final period, allowing a manageable nine shots with zero dangerous chances, ending any chance of a Detroit comeback.

Vincent Z. Mercogliano is the New York Rangers beat reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Read more about his work at lohud.com/sports/rangers/ and follow him on Twitter @vzmercogliano.

“I understand why he rejected the 88”

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