DETROIT -- Pavel Datsyuk said his legs were heavy, his mind was slow and he was fighting through the pain.

Asked how long it will take to get his game to the level he desires, he said 2014, at the Olympics.

Datsyuk didn’t lose his sense of humor during his 6 1/2-week absence with a broken right hand. And he hasn’t lost his game.

Datsyuk had a goal and an assist in his first game back, and the Detroit Red Wings held off the New York Rangers with outstanding penalty killing in the final minutes Monday to preserve a 3-2 victory at Joe Louis Arena.

Jimmy Howard made 45 saves, several in the final 3:40, when his team was shorthanded following a pair of high-sticking penalties that former Red Wing Sean Avery drew. The Red Wings killed a 44-second five-on-three and then held off the Rangers for 1:12 after they pulled goaltender Martin Biron for a six-on-four advantage.

"It was special in the last minutes, when we were on penalty-kill," Datsyuk said. "It’s exciting to watch on bench."

The Red Wings, who had been shut out in their previous two games but never have been blanked in three consecutive games, are excited to have Datsyuk back following his injury Dec. 22.

"It didn’t look like he missed 19 games," Detroit captain Nicklas Lidstrom said. "He’s so good offensively and defensively, working hard, getting the puck back. Just his awareness on the ice. When you haven’t played for almost two months, you’re not in game shape, but it didn’t look like he missed a beat."

Aside from not being able to take faceoffs, Datsyuk showed no ill effects from his injury. He was strong on the back-check, breaking up plays. He created turnovers by pressuring the defense, which led to his goal.

Datsyuk stole the puck from Brian Boyle on the corner, getting it to Danny Cleary, who passed to Jiri Hudler. Datsyuk went to the net, got the puck and got off a shot that Biron stopped. But Datsyuk banged in the rebound for his 13th goal.

"My line did a good job, gave me a good pass," Datsyuk said. "Believe me, it’s tough. Teammates helped me a lot. A little bit pain, but I needed to fight through the pain."

Said Detroit coach Mike Babcock: "I didn’t see him fight through it. That’s what I expected him to be. He’s one of those guys that had to be comfortable before he came back. His ability to handle the puck and shoot was important."

That goal snapped Detroit’s scoreless drought at 143 minutes and 18 seconds.

"He’s gifted, he’s a special player, he’s a lot of fun to watch," Howard said. "It’s not a surprise that he was able to step back into the lineup for us and contribute the way he did. He makes our team that much stronger out there."

Biron, a backup getting the start in place of Henrik Lundqvist, said of Datsyuk:

"He works so hard in his own end to get the puck back. He's a difference maker. They got shut out back-to-back without him. He comes back and leads the charge on offense. Guys like that, that's what they usually do.''

Datsyuk drew an assist on Hudler’s goal at 5:04 of the third period -- Hudler converted a pass from Jonathan Ericsson -- which gave the Red Wings a 2-1 lead.

"I thought Pavel was good, he created space and does a lot of good things and he’s good both ways and he’s going to get a lot better," Babcock said. "I thought that line (with Hudler and Cleary) was good for us."

Drew Miller made it 3-1 at 14:37 of the third period, after another turnover by the Rangers. Biron stopped Justin Abdelkader’s shot, but Miller swooped in to knock in the rebound.

Brandon Dubinsky scored at 15:55 to cut Detroit’s lead to 3-2. From there, the Red Wings’ penalty-killers preserved their two points.

"Howie was good, which is real important for us," Babcock said. "Our penalty-killing was excellent, part of that was Howard. ... I thought (Henrik Zetterberg) did a real good job of staying on top of them on the five-on-three and the normal penalty killers did a good job from there."

Post-game interviews