The Chicago Blackhawks hosted the New York Rangers and have finally taken over the bottom spot in the NHL with a .310 points percentage. The Rangers could not come into Sunday’s affair any hotter, having won their past six games, and did not waste any time tonight jumping out to a 3–0 lead en route to a 7–1 victory.
- The days of falling behind 3–0 and hoping this Chicago team could climb its way back into a game has long been forgotten. The Rangers found goals from Filip Chytil, Artemi Panarin and Kaapo Kakko in the first period.
- Philipp Kurashev scored his fourth goal of the season in the second period. The 23-year-old forward continues to audition for his spot in the future, but as a one-trick pony (goal scorer?), that will most likely not be at the NHL level.
- At the beginning of the season, the organization needed goaltender Arvid Soderblom to play as many nights in Rockford to continue to get adjusted to the pro level and not play behind a team trying to lose. The 23-year-old has been a sitting duck in net, and unfortunately, management will have a hard time evaluating if he can be the goaltender of the future. Soderblom was forced into action because of injury, but fans can start to see why protecting a rookie in their development is important. He stopped 19 of the 26 shots faced.
- If you are looking for some silver linings, Jarrod Tinordi was the only plus player with his 6:12 minutes of ice time after catching a puck to an already stitched part of his face and exiting the game. Chicago also continues to win draws and fleeced the Rangers for 60% on Sunday.
Chicago will be back in action on Wednesday to face the Nashville Predators on home ice with a 7:30 p.m. CST puck drop.