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I Got the News: Rangers 6, Blackhawks 2

Posted on by Dave Melton
Credit: David Banks-Imagn Images

The Blackhawks returned to their woeful ways on Sunday afternoon at the United Center, losing 6-2 to the New York Rangers.

Like they seem to do in virtually every game, the Blackhawks took a first-period lead when Connor Bedard pounced on a loose puck and circled towards the net before finding Tyler Bertuzzi open on the back door for a tap-in goal:

Should probably take a moment to savor that goal, because it was pretty much the end of the good things that happened for the Blackhawks in this game.

About 10 minutes after the Bertuzzi goal, Jonny Brodzinski tied the game at one with this wrist shot from the top of the faceoff circles:

Nearly three minutes later, Will Borgen put the Rangers ahead for good with this tally after a couple of Blackhawks turnovers:

New York scored three more times in the second period to make this one a laugher:

Wyatt Kaiser briefly stemmed the tide, scoring his first NHL goal with two minutes remaining in the second period to make it a 5-2 game.

Near the middle of the third, a point shot hit off Chicago goalie Arvid Soderblom but ricocheted behind him off of Filip Chytil’s ass. Yeah, it was that kind of game:

Notes

OK, OK, fine: credit to Bertuzzi for scoring a pair of goals to open the game after a certain Blackhawks blogger pointed out that he was only scoring goals in the final minutes of two, three or four-goal blowouts. It wouldn’t be fair to blame him for disappearing for the final 50-plus minutes of the game because there were plenty others who didn’t show up at all.

This was an astute observation from a stretch of play in the first period that could not be worded any better than it already was so here it is:

During that sequence both defenders (at different times) pinched in to keep the play alive, and in both cases Nazar was 3rd man high and had them covered, which led to Nazar finding a loose puck in the high slot leading to a scoring chance. A lot to like there.

— Scott Kennedy (@scotttkennedy.bsky.social) January 5, 2025 at 3:14 PM

Nazar also had some offensive chances and it’d be really, really nice of some of those chances started resulting in goals for him or his linemates so we don’t have to start worrying about another Blackhawks draft pick from the middle-ish of the first round.

We can get Lukas Reichel and Phillip Kurashev back into the lineup any game now, thanks. Their speed alone would be a welcome change from what’s been on the ice lately. Play the damn kids instead of guys on the wrong side of 30 who’ll get amped up for a post-whistle scrum in the final minute of a four-goal blowout.

A common thread on several of the Rangers goals in this game was point shots getting past forwards and towards the Blackhawks net, resulting in those shots going directly into the net or being ripe for redirections in front that also resulted in goals. The blue line has had its fair share of miscues this season — and in this game — but effective defense in the NHL requires a total team effort and Chicago’s forwards were culpable in plenty of moments from this game.

Oh, hey: remember this quote from after Friday’s game?

Nice brand of hockey you’re putting out there. The Rangers played on Saturday, gave up seven goals and came into the United Center with a goalie who’s spent much of this decade playing in the AHL. Just an unacceptably meager performance from the guys in the red sweaters in this game. Impossible to find much else to say beyond that.

Let’s end this one on a positive note:

Caleb Williams is 1-0 at Lambeau Field.

What, did you think there was going to be something positive from this trash heap of a game?

Game Charts

Three Stars

  1. Filip Chytil (NYR) — 2 goals
  2. Adam Fox (NYR) — 2 assists
  3. Jonny Brodzinski (NYR) — 1 goal

What’s Next

Chicago has a few days off before returning to the United Center to host the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday night at 6:30 p.m.

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