Detroit Red Wings stumped again by N.Y. Rangers — this time at home, 5-2

Their season is only a week old, and the Detroit Red Wings are in a skid.

Three days after a respectable loss to the Stanley Cup-favorite Rangers in New York, the Wings looked disorganized on their home ice, exposed for all their weaknesses in a rematch Thursday at Little Caesars Arena. The team defense that was such a focal point during training camp was dismal, the penalty kill looked inept and the overall lack of urgency was a poor reflection on a team trying to build on last season's growth.

The final read 5-2 in favor of the Rangers, dropping the Wings to 1-3-0. The Wings lost, 4-1, earlier in the week at Madison Square Garden, but their performance that night was significantly better than the reunion.

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Cam Talbot was replaced after giving up five goals on 19 shots in 32:20 minutes, but that was more of a message to his teammates than to Talbot, who had little help in front of him. Alex Lyon, who faced the Rangers earlier in the week, came in in relief.

Moritz Seider scored in the second period and J.T. Compher scored a meaningless goal late in the third period during the Wings' fifth power play.

Deflating stretch

Dylan Larkin drew a tripping call on Vincent Trocheck 4:07 into the first period, sending the Wings on a power play. They've struggled there, going 1-for-11 through the first three games. But their man advantage grew to two when Larkin drew a slashing call on Adam Fox at 5:25, giving the Wings 42 seconds with two extra skaters. Their sole power play goal came during a 5-on-3 in the first game. No such momentum this time: From a couple miscues by Erik Gustafsson ( who had about as rough an outing as in his debut, including two penalties) to futility around the net, the Wings were stymied by veteran goalie Jonathan Quick the entire 3:18 they were on overlapping power plays.

Falling behind

As if their inability to convert wasn't deflating enough, the Wings fell behind soon after, when Artemi Panarin scored at 8:30 of the first period. Olli Määttä turned the puck over in his own zone, making a little chip pass that was easily picked off by Trocheck, ending with Panarin angling a shot from the left circle in behind Talbot. Then the Rangers, who also converted Monday, showed the Wings how to score on a power play, needing just 11 seconds into a penalty to Alex DeBrincat for Panarin to double up the score.

Just terrible

The Wings looked OK during 5-on-5 play in the first period, and even seemed to gain a smidge of momentum when Seider scored 1:27 into the second period. But then their defensive coverage was so disastrous, the Rangers ran up an insurmountable lead. It didn't help that for a second straight time against the Rangers, the Wings skated ruts to the penalty box. Jonatan Berggren went off at 7:59; Trocheck scored at 8:45. Gustafsson went off at 10:46; Panarin completed a hat trick at 11:42. As if the Rangers' stars piling on wasn't enough, at 12:20, third-pair defenseman Victor Mancini, from Hancock in the U.P., scored his first NHL goal.

Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com . Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames .

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Her latest book, “The Franchise: Detroit Red Wings , A Curated History of the Red Wings,” was released October 2024. Her books, “On the Clock: Behind the Scenes with the Detroit Red Wings at the NHL Draft,” and “The Big 50: The Men and Moments that made the Detroit Red Wings” are available from Amazon , Barnes & Noble and Triumph Books. Personalized copies available via her e-mail.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Red Wings stumped again by N.Y. Rangers — this time at home, 5-2