OUT OF SYNC RANGERS FALL TO BLACKHAWKS 

OFFICIAL GAME REPORTS    GOALIES
Game Summary                                  CHI: J. Glass (W)        NYR: H. Lundqvist (L)  Event Summary

–       POWER RANGERS – The Rangers tallied a power-play goal in the second period of tonight’s game. The Blueshirts have recorded a power-play goal in each of the last two games and have tallied five power-play goals over the last nine games.

–       KILL ZONE – New York was 1-for-1 (1:32) on the penalty kill in tonight’s game. The Blueshirts have not allowed a power-play goal in nine of the last 13 games (41-for-45; 91.1%) and in 10 of the last 15 games (45-for-50; 90.0%). In addition, the Rangers have killed off 81 of their opponents’ last 92 power play opportunities (88.0%). The Rangers have not allowed more than one power-play goal in 39 of 40 games this season, including each of the last 38 contests.

–       BLOCK PARTY – The Rangers were credited with 22 blocked shots in tonight’s contest, as 12 different skaters registered at least one blocked shot.

–       HITTING MACHINE – The Blueshirts were credited with 27 hits in tonight’s game, as 15 of 18 skaters recorded at least one hit in the contest.

–       Henrik Lundqvist made 30 saves in tonight’s contest, including 24 saves in the first two periods of the game. Over his last eight appearances (dating back to Dec. 15 vs. Los Angeles), Lundqvist has posted a 4-2-2 record, along with a 2.20 GAA and a .939 SV% (278 saves on 296 shots), and he has made at least 30 saves in each appearance over the span. He has made 30 or more saves in eight consecutive appearances for the first time in his NHL career. In addition, Lundqvist has made at least 30 saves in 10 of his last 12 appearances. He leads the NHL in appearances (34) and ranks second in the NHL in saves (994) this season.

–       Mika Zibanejad tallied a power-play goal, tied for game-highs with five shots on goal and three hits, and won eight of 13 faceoffs (61.5%) in 18:46 of ice time. He leads the Rangers in power play goals (six) and ranks second on the team in goals (12) this season. In addition, Zibanejad’s six power play goals in 2017-18 are a career-high.

–       Nick Holden registered a goal, tied for the game-high with three hits, recorded three blocked shots, and posted a plus-one rating in 17:11 of ice time. Holden ranks second among Rangers defensemen in goals this season (three). He has tallied four points (two goals, two assists) in the last seven games.

–       Mats Zuccarello recorded a power play assist and was credited with two blocked shots in 19:48 of ice time. He leads the Rangers in assists (23) and points (31) this season. Zuccarello’s assist on Mika Zibanejad’s goal was his 199th career NHL assist. He has registered a point in seven of the last 10 games (one goal, six assists over the span), and he has recorded 20 points (five goals, 15 assists) in the last 23 games.

–       Pavel Buchnevich tallied a power play assist and registered two shots on goal in 18:22 of ice time. Buchnevich leads the Rangers in points at MSG this season (21; eight goals, 13 assists in 25 home games).

–       Paul Carey notched an assist in tonight’s contest. Carey has recorded five points (three goals, two assists) in the last seven games, as well as nine points (four goals, five assists) in the last 15 contests.

–       Boo Nieves registered an assist, won three of six faceoffs (50.0%), and was credited with two hits. Nieves extended his assist/point streak to three games (three assists over the span), and he has recorded six points (one goal, five assists) in the last 13 contests.

–       Kevin Shattenkirk led all skaters with four blocked shots and registered four shots on goal in 23:52 of ice time.

• Alain Vigneault, New York Rangers head coach

On tonight’s game…

“You have to give credit to Chicago, they played a good game, but at the end of the day our execution – especially coming into their end and making the right plays at their blue line, making the right plays in their zone – we fed their transition. They’ve got too much speed and too much skill to give them the looks that we gave them. We got what we deserved.”

• Joel Quenneville, Chicago Blackhawks head coach

On tonight’s effort…

“I thought it was really good. It’s a long trip coming back from the west coast. I liked our response. I saw a lot of good things, a lot of the speed in the game. We got to a lot of pucks first. We did a lot of good things, we were more disciplined than we’ve been in maybe any other game. We found a way to kill some big penalties.” 

On the team’s strong play without key players…

“I think Glasser (Jeff Glass) came in and gave us a little jolt of personality and energy. After coming out of three tough games going into the break, coming out of it not the way you want to be playing on the road. We’ll go back home, we showed a lot better of an effort. I liked the response, the way we finished up the trip.”

• Mika Zibanejad, New York Rangers forward 

On the chances on the power play…

“I think we did some good things. There are some things we need to do better. Execution is number one. I thought we had some looks but I think at the end of the day we have to work harder and execute when we have the chance.”

On the energy level coming into tonight’s game…

“I think we gave them too much. I think we made too many mistakes. This is a good team that will capitalize on the chances we are giving them and we gave them too many. That’s not good enough.”

On tonight’s game…

“Too many mistakes. We gave them a short rink to play on. A lot of the chances came from our mistakes and that’s something we have been talking about not to do. We need to play simple and we didn’t do that tonight.”

• Henrik Lundqvist, New York Rangers goaltender 

On tonight’s loss…

“They were better.  They started the game better, they had more jump.  It felt like a lot of their chances came from odd-man rushes, hard to defend.  They have a lot of patient players.  Obviously, Kane is extremely good with the puck and at holding on to the puck and finding openings.  For some reason, it was hard for us to get going.  We need points right now so we have to dig deep here and try to get two big wins before the break.   But tonight, I felt like they were definitely the better team.”

On Sharp’s goal…

“It’s just a good shot, a good wrist shot.  Again, odd-man rush.  I have to look at the tape, maybe I could have challenged it a little bit more.  It was a good shot.” 

On whether there was any kind of an emotional hangover coming off the Winter Classic…

“There should not be, at all.  We need to understand the situation of where we are three games before the break, so that definitely should not be an excuse.  We need to be ready to play.  We are playing against a really skilled team that’s playing desperate right now.  That’s a bad combo – a desperate skilled team.  You have to be ready to play.  Go on the road here and have to try to really put together two strong performances before the break.”

• Ryan McDonagh, New York Rangers defenseman

On what he saw from tonight’s game…

“I saw one team playing hockey and the other chasing the whole night.  It’s really disappointing.  We know we are coming off a big emotional win and a big stage but we’re almost at the halfway point of the season where we need to start playing with some consistency and we didn’t give ourselves a chance there.  They were able to do whatever they wanted.  We didn’t finish checks, slow them down, their speed.  They had time and space and we left our goalie out to dry.”

On what the team was not doing tonight…

“We weren’t battling, moving our feet.  I mean we were slow.  It was really tough to see.  You come in here, you try and say some things and get it turned around, but it can’t be one or two guys trying to make a difference.  We need everybody on the same page out there playing at the same level of intensity.  We’ve got two games here, going on the road again, we have to find a way to play the right way.”

• Patrick Sharp, Chicago Blackhawks forward 

On playing a complete game…

“Not a whole lot of chances against and when we did have something, Glasser [Jeff Glass] was there to make a big save for us. The penalty kill was really strong for the most part and we capitalized on our chances. It was a great road game, a good team game in general, and hopefully, we can get on a roll now.” 

On the importance of getting goals from three different lines…

“Contributing offensively is to be expected from every line. We’re more than capable of doing it but more than anything, I thought we played real stingy tonight and didn’t give up a whole lot so that was one of the keys tonight.”

–       Tomorrow (Thursday, Jan. 4): Team is OFF

–       Friday, Jan. 5: Practice, 2:00 p.m. ET (12:00 p.m. local time) at Ice Den (Address: 9375 E. Bell Road, Scottsdale, AZ 85260)

–       Next Game: Saturday, Jan. 6 at Arizona (8:00 p.m. ET, 6:00 p.m. local time – TV: MSG Network)

*Schedule subject to change

Related articles

• Stars Rout Blackhawks, 4-0
• Chicago Blackhawks: Struggling after finding success
• Wood’s Hat Trick Helps Devils Rally To Beat Blackhawks
• With Evgeni Malkin out for Wednesday’s game vs. Canucks, Jake Guentzel could center second line
• Blackhawks keep Coyotes winless with 4-2 victory