The New York Rangers defeated the Chicago Blackhawks, 1-0, in overtime in a Friday night game highlighted by stellar play between the pipes.
To say the goaltending in this contest was outstanding would be a severe understatement, as both Scott Darling and Antti Raanta shined bright in this contest. The New York Rangers (19-9-1) came into Friday night’s contest with the highest scoring offense in the league averaging 3.54 goals per game. Scott Darling’s performance limited the dangerous New York attack as he stopped a total of 36 shots on goal, his highest save total in a game this season. Antti Raanta was equally spectacular, as he stopped all 26 shots he faced in the contest.
Chicago (17-8-4) started the game strong with an early rush on Raanta, with Ryan Hartman leading a great scoring chance. The Rangers were able to hold strong and were awarded a power play opportunity after Michal Rozsival was penalized two minutes for roughing.
After a successful penalty kill, the Hawks maintained a long rush in the New York zone that generated a few key chances. The line of Artemi Panarin, Artem Anisimov, and Patrick Kane held control of the puck for a little over two minutes, and were able to generate a total of five chances in the opening period of play.
Kane was involved in a scary moment in the second period after a combined hit by Marc Staal and Nick Holden knocked Kane to the ice. After Kane rose to his feet, he was called for a high sticking penalty after he hit J.T. Miller behind the net.
Instead of serving his two-minute minor, Kane left the ice for evaluation. He would return to the Blackhawk bench later in the period during a Chicago power play. Later in the period, both Darling and Raanta exchanged acrobatic stops between the pipes in a back and forth sequence by both teams.
Antti Raanta and Scott Darling are cyborgs that were sent here from the future to stop pucks and entertain us. pic.twitter.com/jHeXA17MAn
— Blackhawks Breakdown (@HawksBreakdown) December 10, 2016
It looked like the Hawks would grab the lead early in the third period off a Marian Hossa shot, but an official’s review would show that Hossa was offside and the goal was waved off. Both teams would trade equally great chances on offense, but neither were able to capitalize as both Darling and Raanta held strong through the rest of regulation.
In the overtime period, Holden scored the game winning goal in the first minute of the overtime period in the middle of a line change that caught the Hawks off guard. Chicago’s record in overtime play falls to 7-4, and it earned one point in the losing effort.
The Hawks will face the Dallas Stars next in the United Center Sunday night at 6 p.m. CST.