The Rangers were just bigger and stronger...
It seemed the Red Wings almost to a man, outside of Mo, Bert & Larkin, were getting bumped off the puck. One little bump, Rangers steal the puck...
And the inverse... every Ranger was able to keep a trailing Red Wing on their hip, with zero chance of getting bumped off the puck. No checks, no bumps, can't reach with the stick to try and steal the puck against a bigger, stronger skater...
It was quite noticeable, at least to me.