Connor Bedard made it to Broadway! Not as an actor in a musical but rather a budding NHL star for the Chicago Blackhawks, as he and his teammates visited Madison Square Garden on Thursday night to face the New York Rangers. The Original Six matchup featured two teams heading in opposite directions, with the Metropolitan Division-leading Rangers trying to win their first Stanley Cup since 1994 while the rebuilding Hawks have lost the first three games of their current five-game road swing, which wraps up Friday night in New Jersey. Petr Mrazek got the start in net for the Hawks against Igor Shesterkin for the Blueshirts.
The Rangers opened the scoring at the 13:00 mark of the first when former Blackhawk Artemi Panarin scored his 24th of the season. Vincent Trocheck knocked Bedard off the puck in the Rangers’ defensive zone and skated through the neutral zone and fed Alexis Lafreniere, who went cross ice to Panarin, who slapped a one-timer past Mrazek to give New York a 1–0 lead. The Rangers would take that lead into the locker room after one.
In the second period, the Rangers added to their lead on the power play when Chris Kreider scored his 20th of the season. After the puck took some crazy bounces from the top of the net and back on the ice and in the crease, Kreider skated in and his back skate knocked the puck in. A furious Mrazek screamed at the ref to review the call on the ice because he felt it was kicked into the net. After review, the call on the ice was upheld and the Rangers took a 2–0 lead at 7:25.
The Blackhawks cut the lead to 2–1 when former Ranger Colin Blackwell scored his first of the season. A nice stretch pass from new Blackhawk Jaycob Megan and a defensive breakdown by the Rangers led to a 2-on-1 and Boris Katchouck found a wide-open Blackwell, who deked Shesterkin for the goal at 17:03.
BLACKWELL GOAL ‼️ pic.twitter.com/G8ZJM8tCM5
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) January 5, 2024
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Just 91 seconds into the third period, the Rangers regained their two-goal lead when Rangers captain Jacob Trouba scored his third of the season. Trouba retrieved the puck from the left half boards and his rising shot went past Mrazek, who went down early.
Seventy seconds later, Jimmy Vesey took a cross-ice pass from Will Cuylle and shot it past Mrazek from the right circle for his eighth of the season. The Rangers led 4–1 at 2:41 of the third and that would be the final.
Analysis
With a rash of injuries to several regulars and AHL-quality talent being forced into the lineup to play alongside the team’s youth, the Blackhawks were overwhelmed against a talented Rangers team. Bedard, who was named to the NHL All Star Game on Thursday night, making him the youngest All Star in NHL history, had a relatively quiet night in his first career game at Madison Square Garden. Mrazek played fairly well and kept the game within reach, but the Hawks simply do not have enough consistency on offense to keep up with most teams in the NHL.
The Blackhawks will cross the Hudson River to face the New Jersey Devils on Friday night. Puck drop at 6 p.m. CST on NBCSCH with the radio call on AM 720 WGN.