The most exciting thing about Connor Bedard's debut at Madison Square Garden with the Blackhawks was the hype surrounding it.
Because from the moment the puck dropped until the final whistle on Thursday night, the Rangers were worth watching with a dominant 4-1 victory over Chicago and the 2023 No. 1 overall pick appearing on the highlight reel. This was because it was the only highlight of the city.
The Rangers crushed Chicago in almost every statistical category except for hits, losing four straight to the Blackhawks and sixth in their last seven games.
Bedard may headline this game in his first appearance at the world's most famous arena, but the Garden faithful will be keeping an eye on Brennan Osman, who made his NHL debut with the Rangers' 16th overall pick in 2021. Was.
After the first period, Osman led all players on the ice with three shots on goal, finishing with a game-high five while skating alongside Nick Bonino and Johnny Brodzinski.
Coach Peter Laviolette took issue with the third period of the Rangers' 6-1 loss to the Hurricanes on Tuesday, but the head coach was definitely happy with Thursday night.
The Rangers held a 2-1 lead going into the final frame until Jacob Trouba scored the decisive goal just over a minute and a half into the game.
The captain took a tight-angled shot that bounced off Filip Kurashev's stick and into the top of Chicago's goal.
Then, 1 minute and 10 seconds later, Jimmy Vesey sank a feed from Will Quill to give the Rangers a comfortable lead.
The teams exchanged their first power play of the night at midfield, with Adam Fox called for an interference following a turnover at the blue line, and just over a minute later, Kevin Korczynski was called for an interference and Chicago 's remaining man advantage was negated.
On the Rangers' abbreviated power play, Fox came out of the box and Vincent Trocheck cut and put the puck in the net before Chris Kreider could bury it.
When Kreider stopped, the puck got stuck in his skate, and Chicago goaltender Petr Mrazek waved it away and mimicked the kicking motion.
However, as a result of the review, it was determined that there was no clear kicking motion and the goal was upheld.
This marked Kreider's ninth career 20-goal season.
Rod Gilbert (12 goals) and Jean Ratel (9 goals) are the only Rangers players to have scored as many 20 goals in a season.
It is customary for the former Rangers to face their former team, but Colin Blackwell scored his first goal of the season at 17:02 of the half to put the Blackhawks ahead.
The Rangers played well against the Blackhawks in the first period, taking a 1-0 lead and getting the puck their way without getting pushed back too much.
The ease with which the Rangers can move the puck up and down the ice has been a positive trend against lower-ranked teams.
Trocheck knocked Bedard off the puck at the top of the Rangers' zone and bounced up the line for an odd-man rush.
Alexis Lafreniere received the puck from Trocheck and teed up Artemi Panarin for a one-timer in the opposite faceoff circle.
