Up next: New York Rangers

DETROIT -- In a critical game against Washington on Wednesday night, the New York Rangers were able to hold Alex Ovechkin and company in check, skating away with a 1-0 shootout victory over the Capitals at Madison Square Garden.
With the win, the Red Wings' (13-16-7) next opponent -- Friday night at Little Caesars Arena, 7:30 p.m. face-off -- improved to 20-13-4 on the season and remains in a fourth-place tie in the Metropolitan Division with the New York Islanders with 44 points.

The Blueshirts and the Isles currently have the two wild-card spots in the Eastern Conference secured for now, but they both trail Washington and Columbus by three points for third place in the Metropolitan Division and they both have a game in hand on the Capitals and Blue Jackets.
Without question, the Metropolitan Division is the deepest and toughest in the NHL and with the Wings riding a three-game losing streak, Friday's task will be challenging against a Rangers club that has undergone an attitude readjustment after coach Alain Vigneault juggled his lines and defensive pairings on Wednesday.
"Before break (Christmas), we weren't going the right way," Rangers center Kevin Hayes told NBC Sports after Wednesday's win. "We were giving up a lot of shots, line combinations weren't going well so we kind of challenged ourselves tonight to get a big 'W' here and we got a big shutout win by Pavs (goalie Ondrej Pavelec)."
New York elected to start backup goalie Pavelec on Wednesday over No. 1 netminder Henrik Lundqvist, giving their 35-year-old star goaltender five days off until he faces the Red Wings on Friday.
Lundqvist is tied for the NHL lead in appearances with 31, he's made 900 saves, which ranks second among goalies, his 17 wins and two shutouts are tied for eighth in the league and his save percentage of .921 is good for eleventh overall in the NHL.
In his last 15 appearances, Lundqvist is 9-4-1, with a 2.16 goals-against average, a .938 save percentage and one shutout.
"It was just great to see our battle level, our trust in our structure and trust in our process there," Rangers captain Ryan McDonagh told reporters after the game. "It was nothing-nothing pretty much the whole game and it ended up being that way, but we didn't try to do anything just to make something happen offensively.
"Obviously your focus going into break is your next game and collectively as a group trying to put forth a good effort here to find a way to get two points. It wasn't pretty at times, we had to defend a little bit, but at the same time we created some good looks offensively."
McDonagh, who played in his 500th NHL game against Washington, leads the Rangers in ice time, averaging 23:44. In 33 games, he hasn't scored a goal but he has 18 assists and is plus-11.
Free-agent acquisition Kevin Shattenkirk leads Rangers defensemen in points with 22, including five goals and is minus-6. He is second on the team in ice time, logging 20:23 per game.
Former Red Wings defenseman Brendan Smith was in Vigneault's doghouse earlier this year. He didn't dress for eight games through November 15, but has been in the lineup for 18 straight contests. In 29 games, Smith has no goals, seven assists and is plus-11.
The Rangers' deep forward corps is led by right wing Mats Zuccarello, who has eight goals among his team-leading 29 points in 37 games. He is plus-3 and leads all forwards in ice time, clocking in at 18:54 per game.
Right wing Pavel Buchnevich and left wing J.T. Miller are tied for second in scoring with 25 points in 37 games. Buchnevich has 11 goals among his 25 points and is plus-2, while Miller has seven goals among his 25 points and is plus-9.
Forward Michael Grabner leads the Blueshirts in goals with 17 among his 20 points and also leads the team with a plus-14.
Center Mika Zibanejad (11 goals, 11 assists, minus-6 in 28 games) and 34-year-old right wing Rick Nash (nine goals, eight assists, minus-1 in 37 games) have had their offensive moments.
On Wednesday, forward Chris Kreider (11 goals, 11 assists in 37 games) left the game with an upper-body injury. The team announced Thursday that he has a blood clot in his right arm and he is out indefinitely.
While the Rangers were feeling encouraged about their overall effort, especially defensively against Washington, Vigneault pointed out there is a simple explanation for the Rangers' success.
"If you want to talk about our defensive game, it was more about playing with the puck," he said. "Play with the puck quick, make the right decisions you can create some great looks offensively and defensively you can be pretty good."
Puck possession, a term Red Wings fans know inside and out.