Rangers vs. Blackhawks: 3 things to watch for trying to avoid being swept by last-overall opponent
When the NHL schedule was released in July, who would have ever thought that an early January game between the New York Rangers and Chicago Blackhawks would be contested by a pair of teams in the lottery hunt rather than the playoff chase.
Well, you very likely would’ve guessed correctly that the Blackhawks (13-24-2) would be in that position. They’re last in the NHL, one season removed from finishing next to last and two seasons from a 30th-place finish.
But the Rangers? The defending Presidents’ Trophy winners who were two wins shy of reaching the Stanley Cup Final last spring?
Well, yes, the Rangers are in the same league as the Blackhawks nearly halfway through the 2024-25 season after a 7-4 loss to the Washington Capitals on Saturday dropped them to 17-20-1. They’ve lost five of six, nine of 11 and a whopping 16 of their past 21 games. They have a .226 points percentage in the past 21 games — representing a full quarter of their schedule — worst in the NHL.
The Rangers have shown signs of life in the past four games. Certainly, their compete level is better and, hey, they scored four goals Saturday for the first time since Dec. 8 against the Seattle Kraken. It should be noted that despite feeling better about their game recently, the Rangers still have lost three of those four. And that Kraken game? Yeah, they lost that one, too, 7-5.
And playing the last-place team in the entire League? Well, that hasn’t worked for the Rangers this season. They lost to the Blackhawks 2-1 on Dec. 9 at Madison Square Garden. Eight days later, the Rangers were shut out 2-0 by the Nashville Predators, after the Preds had dropped to the bottom of the NHL standings.
Related: Mark Messier rips Rangers core, says it’s ‘fractured’
3 things to watch for when Rangers visit Blackhawks
1. Louis, Louis
Igor Shesterkin is on IR with an upper-body issue. Jonathan Quick played the day before, and allowed six goals (the seventh was an empty-netter). Louis Domingue is the next goalie up.
The 32-year-old journeyman is expected to make his first NHL start of 2024-25 and second in three seasons after signing with the Rangers in the summer of 2022. He stepped in on Nov. 9, 2023 and made 26 saves in a 4-1 Rangers win against the Minnesota Wild. Other than that, Domingue has played with Hartford of the American Hockey League; he has a 4-9-2 record, a 3.64 goals-against average and .888 save percentage this season.
That’s not so inspiring. But Domingue does have 143 games of NHL experience and a .905 career save percentage. And maybe the Rangers, who put in a defensive no-show in DC on Saturday, could turn it up defensively knowing that neither Shesterkin nor Quick is between the pipes Sunday.
2. Bring Zac back?
Maybe Zac Jones was sticking pins in voodoo dolls representing the Rangers defenseman Saturday when he, again, sat in the press box watching. Wouldn’t put it past him after the 24-year-old lashed out about being a healthy scratch more often than not (four straight games, six of past seven) earlier in the week.
Well, it sure looked that way at least. The Rangers D corps turned in an ugly afternoon against the Capitals. But the two biggest offenders were probably Adam Fox and Ryan Lindgren (a combined minus-5), who each was guilty of one egregious mistake after another. Thing is, they’re not coming out of the lineup — most certainly not Fox.
So, who comes out for Jones? K’Andre Miller? Urho Vaakanainen, who was plus-2 and had a long home-run pass on Filip Chytil’s third-period goal? Right-shots Braden Schneider or Will Borgen?
Let’s see how badly coach Peter Laviolette wants to shake things up — if at all — with the defense corps.
3. Sustainability
The Rangers have failed to sustain much of anything good during these past 21 games. Whether from goal to goal, period to period, shift to shift or game to game. They haven’t won consecutive games since a three-game winning streak from Nov. 14-19. Eleven times this season they followed a win with a loss.
Then on Saturday, three times the Rangers cut a two-goal deficit to one in the second and third periods. What did they do after scoring? They allowed the Capitals to regain the two-goal advantage within 1:47, 2:18 and 56 seconds. That’s how you lose games.
Perhaps they’ll be able to sustain their positive surges against the woeful Blackhawks on Sunday.
New York Rangers projected lineup
Panarin – Trocheck – Lafreniere
Kreider – Zibanejad – Smith
Cuylle – Chytil – Berard
Edstrom – Carrick – Vesey
Lindgren – Fox
Miller – Borgen
Vaakanainen – Schneider
Domingue
Quick
Rangers vs. Blackhawks: When, where, what time, how to watch
Who: New York Rangers vs. Chicago Blackhawks
When: Sunday, Jan. 5 at 3 p.m. ET
Where: United Center
How to watch: ABC
Click here for New York Rangers complete 2024-25 schedule and game results
More About:New York Rangers News
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