CHICAGO — Betting on a win against the NHL's worst team is counterproductive, but a much-needed big win makes sense.
The Rangers' 6-2 win over the lowly Blackhawks on Sunday night at the United Center was just that.
Despite facing 26 shots (14 in the third) and only seven dangerous chances (due to natural stat tricks), the Blueshirts had a relatively simple path to victory. , it didn't experience much backlash to get there.
As a result, the win was their biggest since a 4-0 win at Detroit on Nov. 9, more than eight weeks ago.
It all came together even though the Rangers were playing without Chris Kreider, who the team classified as day-to-day with an upper-body injury.
Goaltender Louis Domingue also made his season debut in the Rangers' second game of the series, which started Saturday in Washington, stopping 25 of 27 shots.
Chicago has been a last-place team for a while, but the Rangers have struggled this season regardless of what team is on the other side of the ice. A month ago, the Blackhawks traveled to Madison Square Garden and defeated the Rangers 2-1.
However, the Rangers showed some solid effort and took advantage of everything the Blackhawks gave them to score after proving it with just one win.
They haven't been able to do that against any team since early November, but it was a welcome development no matter which team they played against.
The Rangers got off to a shaky start after Vincent Trocheck drew a trip penalty just over a minute into the game. It didn't take long for the Blackhawks to storm the Rangers' zone, where the visitors were simply chasing the puck. Mika Zibanejad lost a contest with the puck and Connor Bedard found Tyler Bertuzzi's backdoor for a 1-0 lead at the 5:37 mark of the opening frame.
The Rangers managed to stabilize after that and entered the first intermission with a 2-1 lead.
Johnny Brodzinski, skating in his first game since Dec. 23 and filling in for Kreider, hit a shot from high to tie the score at one-all. A failed clearance by the Blackhawks then hit Will Borgen's stick and he scored his first point/goal as a Ranger with a long-range goal.
Filip Sitil started the second period with three goals, allowing the Rangers to take the lead in the game.
It was the Czech center's first goal of the game, and Sitil added another point in the third period to give the Rangers a 6-2 advantage.
Zibanejad's deft pass split two Chicago defenders, allowing Riley Smith to complete the breakaway by beating Hawks goaltender Arvid Soderblom in five holes late in the second game.
Trocheck then converted Artemi Panarin's shot off his stick to give the Rangers a 5-1 lead at the 15:16 mark.
