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Rangers collapse late and lose to Chicago; Brassard sets career high in goals

Bobby Bevilacqua

Rangers vs Blackhawks 2-17

Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.

Facing their toughest test in a while, the Rangers (32-19-6) looked up to the task. But a late collapse on their penalty kill handed the win to the Blackhawks (38-18-5), who continue to climb up the standings in the Central Division.

The Blackhawks snapped the Rangers 10 game point streak at home, handing New York their first regulation loss at MSG since December 20th. Artemi Panarin scored his first career hat trick, and Corey Crawford made 31 saves to help guide Chicago to a win.

The first period was pretty quick and free flowing, with not a lot of stoppages. The Rangers had more chances, outshooting Chicago 10-6, but the Blackhawks did a great job keeping their shots to the outside. Read the rest of this entry

McDonagh back as the Rangers take on Chicago; Boyle and Staal still questionable

Bobby Bevilacqua

Rangers vs Blackhawks 10-7

Photo courtesy of Getty Images.

Following a physical and exciting game against the Flyers, the Rangers (32-18-6) will face a huge test tonight when they close out their three game homestand against the Chicago Blackhawks (37-18-5), one of the best teams in the NHL.

In the last game for the Rangers, the fists were flying early on as the Rangers looked to stand up for their downed captain. After that, Derick Brassard tied his career high of 19 goals, and Derek Stepan found the back of the net twice, including scoring his 100th career NHL goal. Henrik Lundqvist was superb when he had to be, and came within 10 seconds of a shutout.

The Rangers have played some pretty good teams in the past few weeks, but this is the first time they’ll be going up against one of the league’s elite teams since they played the Capitals on January 17th. After a slow start, Chicago has surged into second place in the Central Division, and third in the NHL with 79 points. Read the rest of this entry

Rangers blanked at home by the Blackhawks; Talbot sharp in net again

Bobby Bevilacqua

rangers vs blackhawks 3-18

The Rangers came up on the short end of the stick in tonight’s game, falling to Chicago by a final score of 1-0. Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.

The Rangers (44-18-7) were unable to extend their win streak to six games, falling short to the Chicago Blackhawks (43-21-8) in what felt like a playoff game. The defense was top-notch, as well as the goaltending, and Chicago scored the game’s only goal, coming off the stick of former Ranger Brad Richards.

It was the second time in 10 days that these two teams faced off, and both games finished with a final score of 1-0. These are two of the elite teams in the NHL, and the Blackhawks and Rangers showed that again, battling in an extremely close game tonight.

It was pretty even in both quality scoring chances and shots on goal, although the Blackhawks had a slight edge in that category, edging the Rangers 31-25 in shots. The Rangers were unable to get any pucks past Scott Darling before the whistle blew (we’ll get to that later), and Darling picked up his first career NHL shutout. Read the rest of this entry

Rangers look to extend win streak against Chicago with new lines in place

Bobby Bevilacqua

kevin hayes hi five line 2-22

The Rangers will turn to Kevin Hayes on the second line to pick up the scoring slack in the absence of Martin St. Louis as the team goes for its sixth straight win. Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.

After two days off, the Rangers (44-17-7) are hoping to extend their win streak to six games when they take on the Chicago Blackhawks (42-21-6) for the second time in less than two weeks, with both teams playing quite well as of late.

New York and Chicago last faced off on December 8th in a game that went into overtime scoreless. Derick Brassard scored the game winner on a short-side slap shot, which also happened to be the last goal that he scored. Cam Talbot stopped 29 shots for the shutout.

Chicago did play last night, handing the Islanders their fourth straight loss and coming away with a 4-1 victory. Jonathan Toews and Marian Hossa each scored twice, and Corey Crawford stopped 38 shots. Read the rest of this entry