Looking to get back on track after a disappointing loss Sunday, the New York Rangers host the Chicago Blackhawks in an Original Six matchup Monday at Madison Square Garden.
The Rangers (14-11-1) blew a 3-1 second-period lead and lost 7-5 to the Seattle Kraken in a matinee at MSG. They surrendered a season-high seven goals, including five straight across the second and third periods.
It was a dispiriting loss, especially coming off a solid 4-2 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday which followed hot on the heels of the Jacob Trouba trade.
Just 2-7-0 in their past nine games, the Rangers may have the perfect opponent Monday to take their frustrations out on. The Blackhawks (8-17-2) are last in the NHL, lost five in a row and fired their coach last week. Oh, and their No. 1 goalie, Petr Mrazek, is out with a groin injury, sustained in their most recent defeat, 4-2 to the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday.
3 things to watch for when Rangers host Blackhawks
1. No excuses
Plain and simple, the Rangers must defeat the Blackhawks Monday and pocket two points in the standings. No ifs, ands or buts.
It doesn’t matter that the Rangers have struggled for over a month now. Nor that they’re coming off that loss to the Kraken, which sure seemed destined to be a second straight win. All that matters is that the Rangers take care of business against the worst team in the NHL, on home ice to boot.
A fast start would be nice, as it was Sunday. And more of that same puck control game that we saw against the Kraken would do wonders against the Blackhawks. The Rangers had a 31-11 advantage in 5v5 scoring chances Sunday, 11-5 in high-dangers pots. Their xGF was a whopping 72.24 percent, per Natural Stat Trick. More of the same against the Blackhawks should end up with a win at the end of the night.
2. Here comes Vinny
We’ve recently pointed out that Vincent Trocheck’s production is picking up, and Sunday he scored his fourth goal in the past five games. In fact, in that span, Trocheck also has three assist for seven points, and is now sixth on the Rangers in scoring with 17 points.
Trocheck also won 14 of 16 face-offs (88 percent) and was all over the ice during his 20+ minutes TOI. Postgame, he once again stepped forward to provide quality takes on the game and the team. If you’re looking for a future captain to replace Trouba, this might be your guy.
“You’ve got to stay positive at times like this and make sure to know what we’re capable of,” Trocheck explained. “Like the way we played in the third period. We played like a team that knew we could come back from down two or three goals. That’s the sense we had in the room last year. I think it’s a step in the right direction inn that sense … but, yeah, you’ve got to win games, and you’ve got to have that sense of urgency for a full 60 minutes and not just when you’re down.”
3. Connor Bedard in the house
Connor Bedard, the top pick in the 2023 draft and Calder Trophy winner as NHL rookie of the year last season, will play his second career game at MSG. Last Jan. 4, Bedard was minus-2 with three shots in a 4-1 loss to the Rangers. By the way, that’s not an anomaly in this series between Original Six foes. The Rangers have won three straight against the Blackhawks and seven of eight since Jan. 17, 2019.
But back to Bedard, The wunderkid is 19 now, struggling to find his groove on a bad team that has limited talent to surround him with. Bedard leads Chicago with 20 points, but has scored only five goals in 27 games. He’s gone six games without a goal and has one in his past 14 games.
Let’s see how he performs under the bright lights of Broadway on Monday.
New York Rangers projected lineup
Panarin – Trocheck – Lafreniere
Kreider – Zibanejad – Smith
Cuylle – Chytil – Kakko
Edstrom – Carrick – Vesey
Lindgren – Fox
Miller- Schneider
Jones – Mancini
Shesterkin
Quick
Rangers vs. Blackhawks: When, where, what time, how to watch
Who: New York Rangers vs. Chicago Blackhawks
When: Monday, Dec. 9 at 7 p.m. ET
Where: Madison Square Garden
How to watch: MSGSN
