The struggling Chicago Blackhawks faced off against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden last night.
Promising young netminder Collin Delia got the start in net for the Hawks, facing storied vet Henrik “The King” Lundqvist for the Rangers.
The Hawks lines and pairings were as follows:
Brandon Saad–Jonathan Toews–Dominik Kahun
Artem Anisimov–Dylan Strome–Patrick Kane
Alex DeBrincat–David Kampf–Drake Caggiula
John Hayden–Marcus Kruger–Brendan Perlini
Henri Jokiharju–Brent Seabrook
FIRST PERIOD
The Hawks got off to a good start in the first, generating some good chances off a fast transition game. And, in fact, they led in shots for the period 12-9. Sure enough, after a Cody McLeod minor for high-sticking at 3:49, Brandon Saad found the twine off a rebound of a Brent Seabrook shot, Saad’s 14th goal of the season. 1-0 Chicago.
Just past the 13 minute mark, the Hawks had a promising rush, with Erik Gustafsson the late man coming in to the zone. You can fault Gustafsson for taking his time to line up the perfect shot, thinking he was wide open in the slot, but after taking a huge wind-up, Gustafsson found his stick tied up deftly by a Ranger defender, nullifying the chance and toppling both players to the ice. Unfortunately, Ranger forward Filip Chytil scooped up the puck and motored up ice (while Gustafsson lingered slightly to complain to the ref in the Rangers zone—when he should have just hightailed back), beating Henri Jokiharju wide and then roofing one in close on Delia. 1-1.
About four minutes later, the Hawks got caught a bit flat-footed on a Ranger rush, with most of the defense out of position, while 2 Ranger forwards crashed the net. Mats Zuccarello finished it, giving the Rangers the lead at 17:38. 2-1 New York.
That was how the period would end.
SECOND PERIOD
The Hawks dodged an early bullet that might have been difficult to overcome—when what appeared to be a Mika Zibanejad goal was ruled offside on a very close call, keeping the score at 2-1.
However, at 13:09, after an ill-advised Saad cross-ice pass turned into a Ranger odd-man break, Chris Kreider beat Delia, giving the Rangers a two-goal cushion. 3-1.
The Rangers basically dominated in shots in this period, at one point outnumbering Chicago 11-3. The final tally for the period was 12-9 Rangers, evening the shots up for the game 21-21.
THIRD PERIOD
After a Jesper Fast tripping penalty at just 19 seconds into the period, Alex Debrincat buried a one-timer through a Dylan Strome screen on the ensuing power play. The goal, DeBrincat’s 24th, came at 1:40. 3-2 Rangers.
The Hawks later killed off a penalty to Chris Kunitz, taken at 12:46.
Although the Chicago ostensibly should have been in comeback mode, they barely generated any further pressure in the period, before pulling Delia at about 18:20.
The Hawks came very close to beating Lundqvist with 44 seconds left on a goalmouth scrum, but to no avail.
Zibanejad put it away for New York, however, after picking off a Patrick Kane pass and hitting the empty net at 19:42. 4-2 Rangers.
The Hawks had one late consolation: a David Kampf goal at 19:58. A day late a dollar short and another Hawk loss, 4-3 final, putting the team’s record at 16-24-9—worst in the NHL.
THE GOOD
Hard to find much—a few players sort of stood out. Only the fourth line of Kunitz, Kampf and Marcus Kruger was even for the night. Drake Caggiula was noticeable for his speed and pushback. DeBrincat and Saad have both been hot of late.
THE BAD
The Hawks were outshot yet again, giving up 33 to 27 taken. We can’t stress enough how important it will be for GM Stan Bowman to address this nightly disparity either at the trade deadline or in the offseason.
THE UGLY
After a short-lived energetic start to the game, the Hawks seemed to settle into a lackadaisical funk. The bench was dead. There was no “response” to McLeod’s big hits. This is a team that seems to be at the post office right now in a lost season, mailing it in the rest of the way.
That’s all I have. Please comment below.