Offense dries up as Hawks top Rangers

AP Photo/Julie Jacobson

The three game run for the Rangers has come to an end, falling 2-1 last night to the Chicago Blackhawks. The Rangers were without Ryan McDonagh, adding to the missing player count, and the Hawks took advantage. It wasn’t a dominating effort for the Hawks, but there was certainly more room for them to operate, and they generated some solid chances on Antti Raanta.

That said, it was another show of the goalies last night. Raanta was again solid. Scott Darling was just a little better, especially in the third period as the Rangers pressed for the tying goal. There were chances galore for both clubs, and the goalies put on their second straight show.

The Rangers are going to have games like this without some of their better talent in the lineup. They got a bunch of chances in the third, but couldn’t find twine.

On to the goals:

Hawks 1, Rangers 0

The Hawks got a little lucky, as Artem Anisimov’s dump in hit the linesman and allowed for a mini-rush. Kevin Klein basically stopped skating on the back check, and Michael Grabner appeared to get mixed up with Kevin Hayes. Looks like he expected Hayes to cover Trevor van Riemsdyk, but Hayes went to Patrick Kane instead. That left TVR open in the slot to get the pass from Artemi Panarin. Also Marc Staal was anticipating a pass to Kane, not TVR. That’s the advantage of having a player like Kane on the roster.

Rangers 1, Hawks 1

What a beauty by Jesper Fast. He used his glove to get the puck off his body, then whacked the puck out of mid air.

Hawks 2, Rangers 1

This was a good passing play by the Hawks. Dan Girardi forced the play behind the net, albeit while falling. Nick Holden anticipated Brian Campbell going around the net, but Artem Anisimov took a step up in the slot, giving Campbell a passing lane for the easy goal.

At the time I was writing this hockeystats.ca wasn’t loading for me, so no corsi/scoring chance charts. Sorry.

Despite the loss, it’s worth noting that without three top forwards and their best defenseman, the Rangers held their own against a very good Blackhawks team. Scott Darling was the difference last night. Such is hockey sometimes.