NEW YORK -- Henrik Zetterberg was so critical of his team that it would be easy to think the Detroit Red Wings were blown out Wednesday night.

They would have been, sure, but goaltender Jimmy Howard delivered an outstanding performance that masked a lot of flaws.

Howard stopped 32 shots -- including multiple breakaways in the second period -- as the Red Wings stole a 2-1 win against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden.

Center Mika Zibanejad scored 1:09 into the game on the Rangers' second shot; thereafter, Howard stopped 31 consecutive shots, many of which were from high-danger areas. It was a splendid performance from the backup goaltender, who now serves as the understudy to Petr Mrazek after starting for years in Detroit.

If Howard continues to play at this level, it may not be long before he takes the No. 1 job back from Mrazek.

"We all know the story," Zetterberg said of Howard's fall from atop the depth chart. "For him to come into New York and play like this, everyone is really happy."

"There's still a bit of a transition there for me," Howard said. "I felt there were times tonight where I was a little too overaggressive and could have hung back a bit more but it's a work in transition."

The Red Wings (2-2) won despite being outshot 33-18 and flubbing an extended 5-on-3 power play in the third period that could have given the team some breathing room after left winger Drew Miller made it 2-1 early in the period. The Rangers (2-2) were afforded two breakaways and several other 1-on-1 chances but Howard was there to stop them all with his team down a goal.

"I thought we were terrible in the first," Zetterberg said. "(The penalty kill) was good in the second, and in the third, we started to play better. But we can't play like this if we want to win. We're happy that we got the two points, but we have a lot to work on."

The Red Wings took three penalties in less than three minutes in the second period but were able to get through the shorthanded situations unscathed. The penalty killers blocked five shots and Howard turned aside five shots himself to keep the scored tied at 1 heading to the third period.

"I don't think we can play much better," Lundqvist said. "It just came down to putting the puck in the net. (Howard) made some really good saves. We had breakaways, we had a 2-on-0. That was the difference."

Left winger Thomas Vanek's third goal of the season on a power play early in the second period pulled the Red Wings into a 1-1 tie. While Howard was standing on his head, Lundqvist (16 saves) committed a gaffe that proved to be the difference when he fumbled a puck behind his net and couldn't get back to the crease before Miller stashed home his first goal of the season.

"It's funny, that in a game like this, the first question is about that goal but obviously that's the difference," Lundqvist said. "It's a game we should put away with the amount of chances we had, but it came down to that play where for the most part when I do that play I find our 'D' on the backside. It happens."

"I liked our process tonight," Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said. "I like the way we are playing. We are not giving up too much to the opposition. Unfortunately, tonight we hit a hot goaltender."

This was the rare game where both teams leave the building with the same record, the team that lost is upset about the outcome and the team that won is happy its goaltender saved what could have been a disastrous outcome.

"Jimmy stole the game," Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. "I thought Jimmy had one of the best performances I've seen out of any goalie at any level. Jimmy stole the game and we found a way to get points."

NOTES: Red Wings D Niklas Kronwall (knee) and LW Tomas Jurco (back) did not play. ... Detroit C Steve Ott was a healthy scratch for a third straight game. ... Rangers D Kevin Klein made his season debut after missing the team's first three games with back spasms. He took the place of D Dylan McIlrath, who was a healthy scratch. ... Rangers D Dan Girardi (hip flexor) and LW Pavel Buchnevich (back spasms) did not play. Girardi is expected to skate on his own Thursday.