Rangers bounce back with convincing 6-2 win against Blackhawks
On paper, the New York Rangers are the far more talented team compared to the Chicago Blackhawks. And it certainly looked that way when the Rangers skated to a convincing 6-2 win against them at United Center on Sunday afternoon.
Of course, the reality is that, even with this win, the Rangers (18-20-1) are only nine points ahead of the Blackhawks, who reside in last place in the NHL standings. Plus, the Blackhawks skated to a 2-1 win against the Rangers on Dec. 9, so nothing was taken for granted here.
But coming off a sloppy 7-4 loss at the Washington Capitals on Saturday, the Rangers were far and away the better team in Chicago. Twelve different skaters recorded at least one point and the Rangers had five different goal-scorers.
Filip Chytil led the way with his second two-goal game of the season, and he extended his point streak to a season-high four games. Jonny Brodzinski, Will Borgen, Reilly Smith and Vincent Trocheck also scored for the Rangers, who’ve won two of their past three games.
Adam Fox, Ryan Lindgren and Brett Berard each had two assists. It was the first multi-point game for Berard in the NHL.
It was the third time the Rangers scored six or more goals in a game this season and was one shy of their season high of seven against the Montreal Canadiens on Oct. 22. It was also their first victory with a margin of more than two goals since Nov. 9 against the Detroit Red Wings (4-0).
Louis Domingue, who was recalled earlier in the week from Hartford of the American Hockey League when Igor Shesterkin landed on IR with an upper-body issue, made 25 saves in his first start this season with the Rangers.
Arvid Soderblom made 28 saves for the Blackhawks, who lost for the sixth time in seven games. Tyler Bertuzzi and Wyatt Kaiser scored for the Blackhawks.
Related: Frank Vatrano off trade market, ex-Rangers forward inks 3-year deal with Ducks
New York Rangers 6 – Chicago Blackhawks 2
A largely dominating afternoon actually began with the Rangers coughing up the first goal early in the first period. That’s not news as it’s been a familiar story for the Rangers during a miserable 5-16-0 stretch coming into this game. The difference this time was that the Rangers answered with five straight goals of their own bridging the first and second periods.
The Blackhawks struck first after a hustling Connor Bedard beat Mika Zibanejad to a loose puck in the Rangers zone, skated to the right circle and sent a perfect backdoor feed to Bertuzzi at the far post. Bertuzzi potted his 14th goal — and ninth in 14 games — to put the Rangers in a 1-0 hole 5:37 into the game.
But the Rangers quickly turned the tide, owned the puck over the majority of the first period and were rewarded with two goals before the intermission. Brodzinski tied the game at 15:12. In the lineup because Chris Kreider was scratched with an upper-body injury, Brodzinski scored his third goal by sending a long-range shot through traffic and past Soderblom.
Minutes before that goal, Brodzinski drove to the net and redirected a pass just off the top of the crossbar.
The Rangers took the lead at 18:22 when Borgen fired another shot through a maze of players and past Soderblom. It was the defenseman’s first goal in eight games with the Rangers and second of the season.
New York outshot Chicago 14-6 in the first period and out-chanced the Hawks 8-2, garnering an xGF of 0.76, per Natural Stat Trick.
The Rangers scored three straight goals in the second period to extend their lead to 5-1. The suddenly-hot Chytil zipped a shot from the right circle into the net at 3:28. His first goal of the afternoon came off a neat passing sequence between Berard and Fox.
Smith’s breakaway goal, completed with a sweet backhand finish at 9:54, made it 4-1. Fresh off the bench, Smith took a long perfect pass on his tape from Zibanejad for an all-around pretty play. The assist was Zibanejad’s 400th in the NHL and the goal was the eighth this season for Smith.
That lead increased to 5-1 at 15:16 when Trocheck deflected an Artemi Panarin shot/pass with his back to the net. It was his 11th goal of the season.
Chicago did answer back before the period ended. It ended New York’s run of five consecutive goals when Kaiser, a defenseman, wired his first NHL goal off the rush past Domingue at the 18-minute mark.
The Blackhawks carried some momentum into the third period, taking the game to the Rangers for several minutes to start. Domingue denied Bertuzzi twice and had to make another awkward scrambling save in the first few minutes.
But Chytil restored order with his second goal of the game and fourth in the past four games at 8:36 to make it 6-2. The 25-year-old center was rewarded for going to the net when K’Andre Miller’s long-range shot hit Soderblom’s blocker and caromed off Chytil in front and into the net.
Domingue and the Rangers carried it home from there. And home is where the Rangers will play next, when they host the Dallas Stars on Tuesday.
More About:New York Rangers News
Read This Next
