Recap: Blackhawks fall to Rangers 6–2 as Bedard extends point streak to seven

The Blackhawks’ goal found the back of the net after a Rangers giveaway but would be answered by the 17 Blackhawks giveaways they were credited with for the afternoon game. Chicago was as careless with the puck as they have been in weeks and the only aspect of their game that is worse is their lack of clearing space in front of their goaltender.

Jonny Brodzinski and William Borgen both scored for the Rangers to answer the Bertuzzi goal before the period ended and gave the Rangers a 2–1 lead heading into the intermission.

Second period

Filip Chytil, Reilly Smith and Vincent Trocheck each scored to put the game out of reach and give the Rangers a 5–1 lead and did not look like a team that just played a hard-fought game the day before against the Washington Capitals.

As the camera crew at the United Center did an excellent job showcasing the young children at the game, some audibly getting an “awe” from the bored Madison Avenue crowd, the Blackhawks defenseman were doing nothing in their own zone. Allan Nolan – drafted 60 spots too soon by Stan Bowman – looks lost and timid out on the ice and results in opposing players finding good positioning for tap-in and rebound chances. The overrated stat of plus-minus was not wrong in this game as Allan was a -4.

Louis Crevier looks like he is playing hot potato with the puck on his stick in the defensive zone and will be a nice addition to Rockford hopefully soon. At 6-foot-8 and 234 pounds, it would be a nice addition to his game if he were to clear the front of his net. The game looks like it is going too fast for the 23-year-old at this level.

The lone bright spot of the period came when Kaiser buried his first NHL goal past Rangers goaltender Louis Domingue to take us to intermission at 5–2 and give something for the home fans to cheer about as the biggest cheer came when the Bears kicked a last-second field goal to down the rival Green Bay Packers. The televisions in the 300 level were packed with fans watching another last-place team in the city, but the obvious cheer was a laughable one for most fans that were in their seats.

Third period

Chytil scored his second of the game and 10th goal of the season in the middle stages of the last frame and ended the scoring for both teams. Chicago would fall to the struggling Rangers 6–2 as 80% of the crowd was already on their way home to put their kids to bed.

Analysis

• This is a bad hockey team that will challenge for the first overall pick in the upcoming NHL draft. Former head coach Luke Richardson did his best to try and lose games 2–1 with a style to keep games tight and hope a lucky bounce would end up in the back of the net. New bench boss Anders Sorensen has opened up the reigns a bit and is trying to let the defense turn into offense, but the Blackhawks do not have the horses to compete this way, evident by their 35 goals given up in their past seven games; four of those games they have given up six goals.
• Bedard and Bertuzzi are fun to watch but can only do so much offensively and both come with their faults defensively. If this team is going to continue to be the worst in the NHL, at least let these two try and generate in the offensive zone. Bedard is too good to be playing with donkeys.
• Soderblom has come back down to Earth after his nine periods of Vezina Trophy play early in the season, but he – and Petr Mrazek – get zero help in front of the net. Opposing teams are able to get great position on most nights and some players spend so much time there that the city parking enforcement came out to put a boot on them for having so many parking tickets. If there is any takeaway from the embarrassment going on with this team the past few weeks, it is that there is no one who can clear the front of the net and no one who can do the dirty work in the defensive zone in the corners.

The Blackhawks return to home ice on Wednesday for a matchup with the Colorado Avalanche for a 6:30 p.m. CST puck drop. The internet clams the game will be seen on TNT but it is always fun to guess if the game will be on TV or not; the anticipation may be the best part of the week for fans.