DETROIT — The close-but-not-enough slump continues.
The Rangers had lost five straight tight matches to playoff contenders, but they made it a sixth consecutive loss Thursday — this time against a fellow bottom-dweller — falling to the Red Wings 3-2 in a shootout at Little Caesars Arena.
Andreas Athanasiou struck for the only goal of the skills contest, beating Henrik Lundqvist in the second round while Mika Zibanejad, Tony DeAngelo and Pavel Buchnevich came up empty for the Rangers.