Rangers’ top line find its flow in authoritative win over Red Wings

There wasn’t much to fixate on through two games of the season, but Reilly Smith’s first go with Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider was a natural one to gravitate toward, considering the circumstances of the Rangers’ RW1 history.

And after the line experienced some defensive struggles and faded to the background offensively, the Rangers’ 4-1 win over the Red Wings on Monday night at Madison Square Garden was a game that saw the trio find their flow.

That was, at least, to onlookers. To Zibanejad, they’re not quite there yet.

“I thought some shifts, yeah [we were in a flow], but we’re close,” said Zibanejad, who recorded his first three points of the season — an empty-net goal and two primary assists — in the win. “I think we’re close to clicking. That’s why I can’t say here yes. We’re working on it. We want this to work as much as anyone else. I think it’s frustrating when we don’t connect, but obviously, we’ll keep working on it. We do a good job just sticking to it, sticking to it. We all believe that we’re going to be successful and we’re going to have a good line. It’s right there, but I can’t say, ‘Yes, this was a game-breaker.’

“There’s definitely things we want to continue doing. I like the line. Obviously, as a player, you want it to connect as soon as possible. It’s a long season, so hopefully we can get there.”

The statistics didn’t tell the full story in this one, and they rarely do. Comparatively speaking, Kreider, Zibanejad and Smith were standouts in this game, after the other lines that make up the rest of the top nine dominated the previous two.