Recap: Rangers Top Blackhawks for Second-Straight Win at Home

The Rangers are nearing the finish line of their sprint to the All-Star break, and for a week now they've been gaining traction. On Tuesday night they rode a dominant team effort to an much-needed bounceback rout of Carolina. On Thursday night, with the Blackhawks in town, it took one rookie and one red-hot trio of veterans to answer a sluggish start and carry the Rangers to a 4-3 win over Chicago.
Filip Chytil got the Blueshirts started with a one-man display of talent in the first period, and after that, each member of the Chris Kreider-Mika Zibanejad-Mats Zuccarello line scored a goal to send the Blueshirts to their third win in four games and back-to-back Garden victories this week by a combined 10-5 score. And it sends them into Boston on Saturday for the final game before the All-Star break, a matchup with the Bruins that David Quinn called "a great opportunity" for his club.

Kreider added an assist to make it back-to-back multi-point games (and 11 of those this season), and Zuccarello's first-period goal broke the game's final tie, while Zibanejad's empty-netter turned out to be the game-winner once Dominik Kahun snuck one past Lundqvist just 1.4 seconds before the end.
That Ranger trio has combined on 17 points over the last three games, but in the Rangers' dressing room, one thing in particular has stood out.
"I think Zuc's really been the guy that's changed the complexion of that line," Quinn said. "His last two weeks he's been dynamite, just playing the way he's capable of playing. His energy is back. Really, I think he's been the reason that line has kind of taken a turn and been as dominant as it has been - obviously Mika and Kreids have played really well too, but I think Zuc's really been the guy that's stirred the drink."
"He plays with confidence right now, and you can tell," said Zibanejad, who scored for the third time in the last three nights. "The way he's protecting pucks, and the way he's been making those plays, he works so hard. That's why he's been a leader of this team for a very long time - the way he's working, his work ethic, just sets examples for everyone else. He's probably one of the most skilled guys in here, but he works extremely hard."

Zuccarello's goal last night was his fourth in the last four games. It came at 17:38 of the first period and gave the Rangers a lead they would never relinquish.
Not to be forgotten, though, was Chytil's goal that evened the score at 13:20 following a slow start from the Rangers. Cody McLeod's high-sticking penalty - coming just moments after McLeod's crunching hit on David Kampf in-between the benches - put the Rangers shorthanded early, and Brandon Saad converted a carom off the crossbar for the opening goal at 5:41.
"I liked how we responded after a very slow start, which was disappointing - we thought we were ready to build on what we did the other night, but we got off to a slow start and they really came out with a lot of energy," Quinn said. "But then we righted the ship."
Chytil brought it level by victimizing his fellow rookie Henri Jokiharju, beating the Blackhawks blueliner wide with speed, moving in on Collin Delia (29 saves) and, in the blink of an eye, flicking in a short-side forehand.
"Coaches always tell me, Go wide," said Chytil, who scored for the second time in four games and has points in four out of the last five. "Sometimes I go to the middle, but it's about how I see the defender. Today he was a little slower, so I tried skating wide, and I beat him and scored a goal."
"He's a special talent, boy, he really is," Quinn said.
Zuccarello struck at 17:38, off a play begun by Zibanejad's zone entry, followed by Marc Staal's blast off of Kreider's stickblade, and finished at the crease by Zuccarello, who upped his points streak to four games and has scored four times over that stretch.

Kreider stretched it to 3-1, scoring his team-leading 22nd of the season off a broken play when he followed a rush led by Zuccarello. Alex DeBrincat's power-play goal early in the third shaved it to 3-2, but Zibanejad's empty-netter provided enough cushion for the Rangers, who outscored the Blackhawks 4-0 at even strength until Kahun's heave at 19:58 of the third.
There was only one gripe with Zuccarello in the Rangers' room after the game: Zibanejad had a second-period goal taken off the board after a Blackhawks challenege, and Zibanejad said the linesmen told him why.
"Yeah, because Zuc is not flexible enough," said a smiling Zibanejad, who was told that Zuccarello's skate was just on the wrong side of the blue line as the puck entered the zone. "He owes me dinner."
"But we won," Zibanejad added, "so I don't care."