Ville Husso huge as Detroit Red Wings top Rangers, 4-1, slide into playoff spot

Helped by a productive night from their second line and a stellar one from their goaltender Thursday at Little Caesars Arena, the Wings took down one of the NHL’s better teams, beating the New York Rangers, 4-1.

With the Florida Panthers idle and the Pittsburgh Penguins losing to the Edmonton Oilers, the Wings (28-21-8) ascended to the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference with 64 points and three games in hand on the Panthers.

Andrew Copp, Filip Zadina and Michael Rasmussen scored during the first two periods, and Filip Hronek converted on a power play in the third period as the Wings won for the seventh time in eight games.

The Rangers exploited haphazard defensive-zone coverage by the Wings, forcing Husso to make one big save after another. One of the biggest was on defenseman Adam Fox, whose close-range shot saw Husso stretch his left leg to redirect the puck. Husso finished with 30 saves.

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Second line strikes

The second line — Copp, Rasmussen and David Perron — rolled all night. In the first period, it was Copp finishing a pass from Rasmussen, earning goal No. 6 to give the Wings a 1-0 lead. Late in the second period, Perron picked up his second assist when he fired a shot that Jaroslav Halak came out of the net to challenge. Halak fell, and couldn’t recover in time to deny Rasmussen, who ended up scoring his 10th goal of the season into an open net. Copp also assisted, giving all three players multi-point nights.

Zadina adds second

Zadina sent a message that he belonged in the lineup, shortly after Vincent Trocheck had tied the game six minutes into the second period. It was Dylan Larkin who did the work to steal the puck off the Rangers as they tried to exit their zone, instead turning around and feeding the puck to Zadina, who wired a shot on net that sank behind Halak, hitting the far goalpost on its way in. It was only Zadina’s second goal of the season, but he missed three months recovering from a leg injury.

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Berggren bumped

With Zadina back in, Jonatan Berggren was the odd forward out. Berggren has played well overall, but his play has dipped the past two games, which isn’t unusual for a rookie. Coach Derek Lalonde likened the decision to scratching Zadina earlier this week to get Jakub Vrana into the lineup, and screatching Dominik Kubalik earlier this month to get Zadina into the lineup: It was more a reflection on wanting to get someone in, than the player coming out. Lalonde said the Wings have been happy with Berggren’s offensive game, but like all young players he needs to grow his 200-foot game.