"Before anything else, I really like getting two points," Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. "We did a nice job of pushing back after they took the lead a couple times."
David Desharnais and
Vinni Lettieri
scored for the Rangers (20-13-5), who had won four of their past six games (4-1-1). Lundqvist made 33 saves.
"We did some good things tonight, and we gave ourselves several chances to win the game," Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said. "We just didn't finish any of them, and it ended up costing us the game."
The Rangers took a 1-0 lead at 17:35 of the first period when Desharnais tapped in Jimmy Vesey's pass from behind the net.
Athanasiou made it 1-1 at 7:46 of the second period, beating Rangers defenseman Nick Holden to Dylan Larkin's long pass and flipping a shot past Lundqvist's glove hand for his first goal in 16 games.
Athanasiou finished the game with a season-high eight shots on goal.
"I got a couple good early shifts, and that got my legs under me," he said. "I've had a lot of chances, but there's been a bad bounce or I hit a post or a goalie makes a great save. I knew one would eventually go in."
After several games on the fourth line, Athanasiou moved up to Larkin's line after Anthony Mantha didn't play because of an undisclosed injury.
"His work ethic and compete level have been good and he got rewarded with minutes," Blashill said. "When he uses his speed away from the puck, he's a very effective player."
Lettieri, making his NHL debut in place of Chris Kreider, who is out indefinitely because of a blood clot, gave the Rangers a 2-1 lead at 2:35 of the third period, beating Howard off a pass from Boo Nieves.
