Looking a step slow all night, the New York Rangers didn’t deserve to win Wednesday night against the Chicago Blackhawks. And they didn’t. Spencer Knight made 21 saves and the Blackhawks shut out the Rangers 3-0 at United Center.
It was the sixth shutout loss in 32 games this season for the Rangers, and their first on the road. Knight was sharp, though it was hardly a taxing game for the 24-year-old goalie, who earned his second shutout of the season and seventh of his career. He faced only four shots in the third period, though two were point-blank opportunities by Noah Laba during a 1-2 sequence by Knight’s crease.
Igor Shesterkin finished with 22 saves for the Rangers, who are winless in their past three games (0-1-2). Connor Bedard had a goal and an assist for the Blackhawks, who surrendered 13 goals over the weekend in consecutive losses to the Los Angeles Kings and Anaheim Ducks, and appeared committed to playing a far better all-around game Wednesday.
Tyler Bertuzzi and Louis Crevier also scored for Chicago.
Neither team scored in the first period, but there were several close calls for each side. Shesterkin made a diving blocker save to deny Andre Burakovsky’s rebound try 3:15 into the game; and three minutes later he got a pad on Bedard’s one-timer after accepting a cross-ice pass.
Roughly 30 seconds after that clutch Shesterkin save, the Rangers came within inches of scoring the game’s first goal. Between the circles, J.T. Miller deflected Scott Morrow’s pass/shot from inside the blue line, but hit the post. Then at 11:20, Mika Zibanejad had a breakaway, and though he beat Knight between the pads, the his shot went wide of the net.
The Rangers were out-shot 10-6 in the scoreless first period, but started strong in the second. Knight made two clutch pad saves on the first shift, one on Miller’s wraparound and another on Conor Sheary’s putback. New York killed off a Matthew Robertson holding penalty at 2:31, and then received their first power play at 5:25.
Not only did the Rangers fail to generate any good looks on the power play, but they surrendered a short-handed goal at 7:08 to fall behind 1-0. Crevier got behind the five Rangers forwards on the ice, and the 6-foot-8 Chicago defenseman used his long reach to push a backhand shot past a poke check from Shesterkin. It was Crevier’s third goal, first career shorty, and first goal of any kind in the past 20 games.
Chicago nearly doubled its lead at 10:40 when Ryan Donato barreled down the middle and buried a Burakovsky chip into the slot. But video review upheld a Rangers challenge that their was a missed hand pass before the goal, and the score remained 1-0.
Or at least it did until Bedard chipped a pass from Burakovsky top shelf past Shesterkin’s glove at 14:27. It was Bedard’s 19th goal of the season and his first in four career games against the Rangers.
Bedard had a hand in the next goal too, when the Blackhawks took a 3-0 lead at 3:52 of the third period. He drove to the middle with speed and got the puck to Ryan Greene, who put the puck between his legs for a shot on goal. Bertuzzi collected the rebound and flipped the puck past Shesterkin from in tight for his 16th goal, and fourth in the past six games.
Alexis Lafreniere came close to ending Knight’s shutout bid at 11:15, but his gorgeous 1-on-1 move resulted in a backhand shot hitting the crossbar.
Key takeaways after New York Rangers’ 3-0 loss to Chicago Blackhawks
David Banks-Imagn Images
Trap game
The Rangers said all the right things heading into this game about not taking the Blackhawks for granted, or as a lesser opponent than the gauntlet of top NHL teams they faced — and played well against — last week. They promised there’d be no drop off in their play and intensity after those big games against the Dallas Stars, Colorado Avalanche, and Vegas Golden Knights.
But this felt a bit like a trap game. Struggling opponent — Chicago was 2-6-2 in its previous 10 games — badly outclassed over the weekend. Plus the Rangers had two days between games, and have another two straight off before hosting the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday. So maybe they took the foot off the gas pedal.
Rested and confident. And then outplayed, pretty much right from the first puck drop, by a hungrier opponent, one perhaps motivated even more by their recent embarrassments. Trap game or perhaps just an off night. Either way, a missed opportunity to get two important points for the Rangers.
Not passing the eye test
The analytics and underlying numbers tell you that the Rangers played on pretty much even terms with the Blackhawks. New York had a 12-10 advantage in high-danger chances, and a decent 48.5 percent expected goal share 5v5, per Natural Stat Trick. Even the shots on goal were close, with Chicago holding a 25-21 advantage. And the shot attempts were 52-49 Blackhawks. All that seems OK for the Rangers.
Except if you watched the game, you saw how much quicker the Blackhawks were than the Rangers. Quicker through center ice. Quicker to pucks. Quicker decision making. That’s the main takeaway from this loss. The Rangers appeared slower in every facet of the game. That, and Chicago showed more hunger.
Sure, the Rangers were credited with a decisive 36-12 edge in the hits category. That says something. But all those hits didn’t slow down a pretty darn committed opponent. That says something else.
This game and result was a case of trusting your eyes, trusting what you see.
Powerless
The Rangers not only were 0-for-3 on the power play, but that short-handed goal they surrendered was a crusher. It snapped a scoreless tie and sent the Blackhawks on their way with an extra jolt of confidence, and brought the United Center crowd into the game.
David Banks-Imagn Images
It was the first time the five-forward PP1 unit deployed in Adam Fox’s injury absence allowed a shorty. Zibanejad lost a puck battle just outside the offensive blue line; Vincent Trocheck was late to help out; and Artemi Panarin skated in a circle in the neutral zone, failing to realize Crevier was behind him at the the other blue line. All of that led directly to the third short-handed goal surrendered by New York this season.
Morrow shifted on to the top power-play unit later in the game, and likely will be its quarterback in the next game against the Canadiens. Trocheck had New York’s only shot on goal, a good scoring opportunity late in the third period, in six minutes of power-play time Wednesday. And the Rangers are now 0-for-11 on the man advantage in the five games Fox missed with an upper-body injury.
Jim Cerny is Executive Editor at Forever Blueshirts and Managing Editor at Sportsnaut, with more than 30 years of … More about Jim Cerny
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