NEW YORK _ After the way they played in an ugly loss to the lowly Ottawa Senators at Madison Square Garden on Monday, the Rangers were badly in need of a bounce-back performance Wednesday against the equally lowly Detroit Red Wings.
And with No. 1 center Mika Zibanejad missing his fourth straight game _ still unable to play because of an upper-body injury the Rangers have said for 11 days was a day-to-day issue _ the Rangers did get that bounce back they were looking for, taking care of business against the Red Wings with a relatively stress-free 5-1 victory in the front end of a back-to-back that continues Thursday in Carolina against the Hurricanes.
Two power-play goals and a short-handed goal powered the Rangers, who improved to 6-6-1 on the season. Detroit, which entered the game tied with the Senators for the fewest points in the league (nine), fell to 4-12-1.
