AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast

Henrik Lundqvist and Corey Crawford were the stories of the first 40 minutes in what was actually a fast paced game. The Rangers got on the board early with a Mika Zibanejad goal, and looked to be rolling. It was Crawford who made some stellar stops to keep the Hawks in it.

In the second period, it was Hank’s turn to keep his team in it. He made multiple brilliant saves to preserve a 1-0 lead, until an Alex Debrincat shot snuck though his wickets before the period ended.

Then the third came. Within five minutes it was 4-1 Hawks and Hank was resting. There were multiple defensive breakdowns, as all three goals came from the slot area. And the win streak was snapped.

On to the goals.

Rangers 1, Hawks 0

Chris Kreider won a battle behind the net, and flipped a backhand pass to Mika Zibanejad cutting to the slot. Zibanejad wasn’t picked up at all, and Kreider’s pass was on the money.

Hawks 1, Rangers 1

Alex Debrincat split two Rangers in the neutral zone and gained the offensive zone with speed. Marc Staal forced the shot, which is the right play. Hank got 95% of it. Unfortunately that 5% rolled into the net.

Hawks 2, Rangers 1

Patrick Kane and Nick Schmaltz forced Ryan McDonagh into the turnover in the corner. Three guys eyed the puck while no one picked up Artem Anisimov cutting to the net. Schmaltz’s centering feed did take a lucky bounce off Kane’s stick right to Anisimov. Regardless, one of Zibanejad, Holden, or McDonagh should have picked up Ansimov.

Hawks 3, Rangers 1

John Hayden was in the slot, but Kevin Shattenkirk got caught sleeping a little. Hayden got a step, but Shatty still tied him up a bit. Poor place for a rebound by Hank too, and no one in front went went to clear the puck. Hayden was given a ton of room by the Fs before crashing net as well. Just a lapse all around.

Hawks 4, Rangers 1

Another goal, another lapse in front. No one put a body on Anisimov. He had all day to bury the rebound. Hank was given the rest of the night off after this one.

Hawks 4, Rangers 2

The Rangers woke up a bit here. Hayes got a successful Royal Road pass across to Rick Nash. Nash put the puck in the slot, where Mats Zuccarello dove to get the puck over to Hayes at the back door for the goal.

Hawks 4, Rangers 3

Nash recognized the need to take a chance here, and read that the shot from the point would go wide. The puck wound up out of the zone, and his risk led to a partial break. Crawford probably wants this one back.

Hawks 5, Rangers 3

Anisimov gets the third period hat trick after Richard Panik made a good cross ice pace to Nick Schmaltz. Anisimov then burned McDonagh and Shattenkirk on the way to the net.

Hawks 6, Rangers 3

Jonathan Toews empty netter.

Score Adjusted Corsi

This was a fairly even game until the third period. It was actually fun to watch until the flood gates opened and the slot area was given away for free.

Scoring Chances (not score adjusted)

The Rangers had a good amount of chances in this game. It’s important to note this, since the offense clicking nicely. Crawford came up big for the Hawks. But it’s worth noting that the defense was a train wreck after the first period. Considering how Joel Quenneville deployed his lines, that’s worth noting.

Shift Chart

Here’s the shift chart. Quenneville was specifically targeting Staal/Kampfer with his top line regularly. There’s nothing Alain Vigneault can do about that (aside from….ok dead horse). But there was no reason for Kampfer to be on the ice down three and needing goals. Or down one and needing to tie. Really there was no need for him to play when they needed offense.

All win streaks come to an end, so there’s no use crying over spilt milk. Would have been nice to see the slot area covered just a wee bit more. Let’s hope they rebound in Columbus.

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