First Period:
- Tyler Bertuzzi (6) Assists: Taylor Hall (6)
- Will Cuylle (10) (Shorthanded) Assists: Sam Carrick (4)
Second Period:
- Taylor Hall (6) Assists: Connor Bedard (16), Jason Dickinson (5)
Third Period:
Stats:
Adam Rotter:
- A much quieter game than yesterday but the result remains the same: a loss against a team they should beat.
- They were outworked, out-hustled and lacked any sort of desperation in the third period. They let the Blackhawks, the 32nd best team in the league, dictate the third period like they were the Blackhawks of ten years ago. They were struggling to make passes, struggling to get out of the zone and looked so discombobulated that they more than deserved the boos that starting coming down.
- They seem unwilling or unable to make simple and smart plays. There are so many drop passes that become turnovers, so many soft plays entering or exiting the zone and no urgency or intensity. They seem too stubborn and the worse they seem to play the more stubborn they seem to get. If they can’t execute simple plays and passes then they won’t win and that is what has been happening.
- That third period is one of the most frustrating and disappointing periods of the season. I give the Blackhawks credit for playing well and playing hard, but the Rangers didn’t apply any pressure and let Chicago play most of the period in the offensive zone. Yesterday the Rangers scored five goals and feverishly pushed to tie it and today they looked completely inept offensively. The only goal they scored was shorthanded and because Will Cuylle went towards the net.
- They have lost eight of ten and look utterly lost after a game like this. It’s about two-years and one week ago from when the Rangers lost another brutal game to Chicago, the one where Jacob Trouba threw his helmet, and the season at 11-10-5 was looking lost and close to over. They made a comeback against St. Louis two days later, won 7 straight and finished the season 36-12-8. Is this team capable of that kind of run? On paper, yes. In reality they seem very far away from anything resembling a team that could win 7 straight let alone go on a run that makes you forget about this stretch.
- They get their next chance to try and break out of this funk against the Sabres on Wednesday.