The last-place Chicago Blackhawks headed to the Big Apple to take on the New York Rangers on Monday night (Dec. 9). There’s been no lack of drama of late for these two teams. The Blackhawks were playing in their second contest since firing their head coach, Luke Richardson. Meanwhile, the Rangers made two big moves recently, trading their captain, Jacob Trouba, and then giving their goaltender, Igor Shesterkin, a huge extension. This matchup was about seeing who could shut out the noise and earn a victory.
The Blackhawks ended up being the team that wanted this win more, coming away with a 2-1 victory. Here are the highlights from this contest.
Fast-Paced First Period Nets One Goal on Each Side
The Blackhawks looked very discombobulated at the start of a fast-paced and wide open first period. But ironically, they scored first. Tyler Bertuzzi found the back of the net off a nice cross-ice pass from Taylor Hall. It was the 17th time this season in which the Hawks scored first.
Taylor Hall finds Tyler Bertuzzi, who scores his 6th goal of the season. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/XT2KBDXSoh
— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) December 10, 2024
But the Rangers tied things up in the last minute of the period. To add insult to injury, it was a shorthanded tally. Will Cuylle buried a rebound off a shot by Sam Carrick to tie things up, 1-1. It was Cuylle’s 10th goal of the season.
Sam charges up ice.
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) December 10, 2024
Cools buries the shorty.
YOU JUST LOVE TO SEE IT. pic.twitter.com/BXtplTRms3
The Rangers had 14-9 shot advantage, with four different players registering two shots on goal and six players registering one shot. For the Blackhawks, Bertuzzi and defenseman Connor Murphy both had two shots on goal. All in all, it was a fairly even first frame.
Blackhawks Hold the Edge in the Second Frame
The Rangers got their second power play of the game about four minutes into the second period, but they weren’t able to convert. Shortly thereafter, Chicago’s Hall and Connor Bedard found themselves on a 2-on-1, sprung beautifully by Jason Dickinson. Bedard passed it to Hall at the last minute, who somehow got the puck past a sprawling Igor Shesterkin.
DECK THE HALLS pic.twitter.com/GMl1lCd1f1
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) December 10, 2024
At the end of the second, Bertuzzi and Teuvo Teravainen led the Blackhawks with three shots on goal a piece, and Artemi Pananin had seven! shots on net for the Rangers. But the Blackhawks held the edge overall, bringing tons of energy and registering 12 shots to the Rangers nine in that frame, plus what ended up being the game-winning goal. The Rangers, however, still led 23-22 in shots overall and were winning 58% of the game’s faceoffs.
Rangers Can’t Get the Equalizer in the Third Period
The Rangers were coming off a high-scoring 7-5 loss to the Seattle Kraken from the night before, and it might have caught up to them in the third. They tightened things up to avoid allowing another goal, but the Blackhawks still got their chances. Rangers fans were getting restless and started booing from the stands.
Blackhawks’ goaltender Arvid Soderblom made some timely stops at the end of this contest to keep his team in the game. New York pulled their goalie with 1:36 minutes left to go, but they couldn’t get the equalizer. Chicago ended up with 10 shots to the Rangers’ 7, and led 32-30 shots overall. They snapped their five-game losing skid with a 2-1 win. It was new head coach Anders Sorensen‘s first NHL win.
Final Thoughts on the Blackhawks & Rangers
-Panarin’s seven shots on goal and 24:39 minutes of ice time led all players tonight on both sides of the ice, but he wasn’t able to contribute for his team on the score sheet.
-The Rangers did well in the faceoff circle, winning 63% of their faceoffs. Vincent Trocheck led the team winning nine-of-14 draws.
Cuylle contributed a goal, three shots on goal, eight! hits, one takeaway and one blocked shot in 14 minutes of ice time. Good game for the 22-year-old.
-With a goal and an assist, Hall had a multi-point game, his third of the season for the Blackhawks.
-Defenseman Kevin Korchinski was called up to the Blackhawks in the wake of a neck injury to Alec Martinez. The 20-year-old did well in his season debut, registering two shots on goal and one blocked shot in 16:54 minutes of ice time, while also manning the point for the second power play unit.
-Netminder Soderblom will be leaned on more now that No. 1 goalie Petr Mrazek is on injured reserve with a groin injury. Soderblom had an excellent night, with a .967 save percentage while stopping 29 of 30 shots.
The Blackhawks improve to 9-17-2 (20 points), while the Rangers fall to 14-12-1 (29 points). They will head to Buffalo to take on the Sabres on Wednesday (Dec. 11). The Blackhawks will continue their three-game road trip with a matchup against the New York Islanders on Thursday.
