Recap: Rock Bottom? Rangers Fall 2-1 to League-Worst Blackhawks

In the second half of a back-to-back homestand, the Rangers hosted the Chicago Blackhawks in an original-six matchup. Following the disjointed 7-5 loss to Seattle the night prior, the team needed a serious feel good win but instead, were booed off the ice at the end of another worst loss of the season candidate. 

1st Period:

After a relatively slow start to the game, a fantastic opening shift from the newly constructed fourth line (Edström - Carrick - Berard) brought a jolt of life. It certainly helped set the tone as the Rangers had a couple of strong shifts to follow, specifically from the Panarin line that generated some strong scoring chances and led to some back and forth from both sides. The pace of the game really picked up from there as there would be minimal stoppages through the first half of the period. 

Alas, with just under two minutes away from the midway point of the period, the Blackhawks found the back of the net first. A turnover down low from Mika Zibanead ended up on the stick of Taylor Hall who found Tyler Bertuzzi wide open on the doorstep to fire one past Igor Shesterkin, 1-0 game. 

With seven minutes to go, Connor Bedard took the first penalty of the night as he was sent off for holding Vincent Trocheck away from the play. A great chance for the Rangers to knot things back up but after a rather uninspiring effort from both power play units, the score remained the same with limited time left in the period. 

Laviolette already began hitting buttons on the blender, giving Brett Berard a look with Panarin and Zibanejad on the shift that followed the return to even strength. As the period went on, the Rangers weren’t doing themselves any favors as it continued to appear as if they had no idea on how to play defense. With two minutes to go, Chris Kreider took the Rangers’ first penalty as he was called for holding Connor Murphy who was all over their end of the ice to start the game. Including this truly dreadful shift where he walked right into the Rangers slot, all alone and unbothered. 

The Rangers did a great job of clearing the puck out of their own end and Sam Carrick worked hard to drive the puck to the net. Will Cuylle was right there to put the rebound home which came as the first shorthanded goal of his career. Can’t be overstated just how incredible of a start Will Cuylle has been off to this season. 1-1 game. 

A successful penalty kill with a shorthanded goal to show for it saved the Rangers from an otherwise mediocre period. Shots after the opening twenty were 15-10 in their favor as they led in high danger chances 6-0 and expected goals for 1.42-0.71. The game was close to start though there was no reason it should be. The Rangers needed to find a way to elevate their game.  

2nd Period:

After exchanging chances through the start of the second, the Rangers ended up back on the power play as Bertuzzi was called for slashing. It was a better effort from the Rangers this time around as the top power play unit kept the puck in Chicago’s zone for the majority of the penalty but still no dice. Panarin came real close with a Grade-A chance that may have hit the post but otherwise, the score stayed locked at 1’s. 

An unsuccessful power play conversion came to bite the Rangers in the rear as yet another giveaway resulted in an odd-man rush for the Blackhawks. Connor Bedard passed it over to Taylor Hall who basically fumbled the puck while tripping on a poke check from Shesterkin. However, Shesterkin’s stick unintentionally guided the puck into the open net, 2-1 Chicago. 

Once the power play came and went, the Rangers time in the Blackhawks zone seemed fleeting. It got to the point where Igor Shesterkin was going for shots on goal from the opposite crease, the Rangers were continuously fumbling the puck, Zibanejad accidentally caught Kreider with some friendly fire as the puck redirected and hit him in the face. The Rangers were trailing 2-1- against the worst team in the league.

One of the more boring, lifeless periods the Rangers have had this season and boy have there been a few of them. There were some chances for this team offensively but it doesn’t matter when they’re not going in the net. They continued to look clueless in their own end of the ice and were allowing Chicago to look like an all-star team. Shots were now 24-21 in favor of the Rangers who had 15 turnovers on the night, two of them led directly to Chicago’s two goals. The Rangers haven’t won a game this season when they headed into the second period trailing. 

3rd Period:

After four minutes of nothing, the Rangers were back at a disadvantage as Adam Fox was called for high sticking. Another strong effort on the penalty kill helped keep Chicago from adding to their lead but the longer the Rangers weren’t finding the back of the net, the more concern was growing. 

Frustrations were really boiling over with roughly eight minutes to go in the game. The team was being booed by the crowd, Panarin took a hit down low and went after the guy after getting up, Bertuzzi clipped Adam Fox and nobody did anything. No sustained pressure in the offensive zone, continuing to chase in their own end, this team was getting dangerously close to rock bottom territory. 

Following a TV-timeout with five and a half to go in the game, Laviolette sent out a line of Panarin-Zibanejad-Kreider. They surrendered another golden opportunity for Chicago as Ryan Donato ended up with a breakaway that required a key save from Shesterkin to give this team a fighting chance of remaining involved in this game. A chance for a momentum shift but yet again, the puck couldn’t seem to leave the Rangers end of the ice. 

With under two minutes to go the Rangers pulled Igor for the extra attacker and frankly, I don’t know why they bothered. It looked like a game of hot potato while they were in the offensive zone with every pass received with a noticeable panic. The Rangers iced the puck with twenty or so seconds to go which brought a face-off back to their own end. Yes, you read that correctly, they managed to ice the puck while on a 6-on-5 advantage. A frustrated slap shot from Fox in their own end wrapped up another irreverent loss, now 2-8-0 in their last ten games. 

I’m not sure what else to say without sounding like a broken record. This team has no life, is a mess defensively, isn’t getting any luck, and are running out of time to get it together. This team is one rival win away from being knocked out of a wildcard spot approaching the middle of December. They just traded their Captain and still haven’t responded, what happens now? 

The Rangers have two days to take a good, hard look in the mirror before they head upstate to take on the Buffalo Sabres. Another team that embarrassed them 6-1 just a month and two days ago. How many games can we label the most important game of the season before the message goes stale? This team cannot lose to Buffalo on Thursday.