Goodrow scores twice, Rangers edge Red Wings to maintain Metro lead

DETROIT -- Barclay Goodrow scored twice for the New York Rangers in a 4-3 win against the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena on Friday.

Goodrow entered the game with two goals in 74 games this season but doubled his total with goals in the first and second period.

“This was fun,” Goodrow said. “Obviously, I’d like to do it more often, because it is always nice to contribute to a team win."

Rangers coach Peter Laviolette switched Goodrow from center to left wing on the fourth line.

“We just wanted to give that line a different look, and they were fantastic,” Laviolette said. “[Goodrow] does so much stuff for us. He’s one of our penalty-killers and we’ve got one of the best penalty kills this year. He’s a face-off guy and he blocks shots.”

Chris Kreider scored the go-ahead goal on the power play midway through the third period, and Will Cuylle scored for the Rangers (52-21-4), who have won nine of their past 11. Jimmy Vesey and Jonny Brodzinskii each had two assists, and Jonathan Quick made 31 saves.

New York remained five points ahead of the Carolina Hurricanes for first place in the Metropolitan Division. The Hurricanes defeated the Washington Capitals 4-2 on Friday.

Dylan Larkin and J.T. Compher scored, and David Perron had two assists for the Red Wings (37-31-8), who have lost five of six (1-3-2). Alex Lyon made 34 saves.

“At this time of year, any time you drop a game, it feels like a missed opportunity,” Larkin said. “The hockey is hard and tight, and you have to focused on every play. We lost a couple of battles tonight, which makes this hurt even more.”

Detroit is tied with Washington, one point behind the Philadelphia Flyers for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference. All three teams lost Friday.

“We got some help around the League tonight,” Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde said. “But we’ve got to take of ourselves, and that has to start on Sunday (against the Buffalo Sabres).”

Cuylle gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead at 5:58 of the first period, taking advantage of Austin Czarnik’s turnover.

Andrew Copp tied it 1-1 at 7:11, slipping a backhand between Quick’s legs.

Goodrow put New York back ahead 2-1 at 19:31. Vesey’s shot was blocked, but Goodrow knocked the loose puck past Lyon.

Compher tied it 2-2 at 1:24 of the second period when Jeff Petry’s shot deflected off his skate and past Quick.

Larkin gave Detroit a 3-2 lead with a power-play goal at 13:19. Perron’s shot beat Quick and hit the post, but the Rangers goalie lost sight of the puck. Before he could react, Larkin put in the rebound for his 30th goal of the season.

“They are a desperate team,” Quick said. “We know where they are in the standings, and we knew how hard they were going to come out and play.”

Goodrow tied it 3-3 at 13:44 on a rebound for his second of the game.

Kreider’s power-play goal gave the Rangers a 4-3 lead at 10:14 of the third. He scored on the rebound of Mika Zibanejad’s one-timer from the left circle.

“I thought things felt good in the third period,” Lalonde said. “We had some momentum, and then we put their power play out there. They cashed in.”

NOTES: Larkin became the fourth Red Wings player in 30 years to reach 30 goals in three straight seasons, joining Brendan Shanahan (five times), Henrik Zetterberg (four) and Sergei Fedorov (three). … Rangers forward Artemi Panarin had an assist to extend his point streak to eight games (17 points; seven goals, 10 assists).