Recap: Fortescue, Sykora, and Brodzinski Shine in Rangers' 6-1 Blowout of Blackhawks

It's an original six matchup tonight, as the Chicago Blackhawks are in town. This will be the second and final game of the season between these two teams, with the New York Rangers getting shut out in December during their struggles—but let's be real folks, this entire season can be described as woeful.

Both teams are basement dwellers, more focused on their potential draft picks than winning hockey games. However, surprisingly for many, the Chicago Blackhawks have the NHL's best penalty kill and tonight they face the Rangers' league-leading power play since December 28th, according to MSG.

Tonight, we witnessed the debut of yet another Rangers prospect, Drew Fortescue. The local boy had an incredible 200 friends and family show up for his first game in Ranger blue. An amazing show of support, and every time the jumbotron displayed Fortescue or he stepped onto the ice, you could clearly hear all 200 members of his hockey community.

First Period

It was a tense start for the Rangers as the Blackhawks quickly entered the Rangers' zone, and Ryan Greene almost put Chicago ahead when his shot hit the post just 15 seconds into the game. Lafrenière responded by coming the other way with the puck and had his shot deflect off the post. A scary beginning, but at least tonight it seemed the Rangers would have an answer and push back.

Fortescue, on his first attempted shot, missed the net by about six feet, hinting that the rookie defenseman was maybe gripping his stick a little too tightly. However, the puck came back around, cycled to the perimeter, and he confidently took another shot. Arvid Soderblom, fighting off a screen, lost track of it, and the puck loudly pinged off the post, quickly drowned out by the loud gasp from the crowd—Drew's hockey community hard at work again.

Perhaps Fortescue's best play in that shift was when, as the Blackhawks tried to clear the zone, he stepped up and grabbed the puck, deked to the right, stretched out, and made a backhand pass that kept the Rangers in possession of the offensive zone. Ultimately, nothing came of it, but maybe this is what the future looks like, and hey, that's not so bad.

The Blackhawks are a young, fast team, and their legs were moving early tonight. Garand was busy in the opening period; he managed to fend off multiple great opportunities. He squared up well with shooters, and in one particular save, he used his shoulder to knock a puck away over the net. Landon Slaggert darted past multiple Rangers, grabbed a loose puck, and came in on Garand alone, but Garand stretched out and made the stop.

J.T. Miller made a terrible defensive play; he held onto the puck in the Rangers' slot but was pressured by Anton Frondell and lost possession near the net. Connor Bedard came in and had a great scoring chance that Garand swatted away. What a situation — imagine being a rookie goaltender in just your second NHL game ever, having to bail out your NHL captain to this extent.

The Blackhawks were passing the puck around the Rangers’ zone. Alex Vlasic, skating toward the net, dangled around a Ranger to the side of the net. Garand committed and dropped down, but Tyler Bertuzzi helped out and passed the puck past Garand to Nick Lardis, who swept it into an open net. Not much the young Rangers’ netminder could do about that one; it happened because the defense lost his man.

Not long after, Tye Kartye carried the puck into Chicago’s zone. He waited for his teammates to catch up, turned, and passed it back to Braden Schneider. Schneider shot the puck toward the net, and Sheary redirected it into the crease. Miller was taking abuse from the enormous Alex Vlasic, and the puck crossed through multiple skates and sticks before going into the net. The goal was originally credited to Sheary, but Dave Maloney insisted it was J.T. Miller. Later in the game, after reviewing the play, Maloney hesitated and acknowledged it might be Sheary's goal. About ten minutes later in the second period, Maloney was vindicated when it was announced to be Miller’s goal.

Second Period

Early in the period, Matthew Robertson stepped up and put a tough angle shot on net. Miller was there trying to jam it past Soderblom, but he just couldn't get to the puck. The puck popped out and Robertson crashing the net, was allowed the time to pick his corner, because of Miller tying up the defenseman. Regardless of the time Robertson was afforded, that was quite the snipe to give the Rangers the lead.

Not long after the Rangers went up by one, Zibanejad hustled back, breaking up a dangerous play for Slaggert, but they fell awkwardly together. Zibanejad got up slowly, and there was concern he injured something. They later showed him on the bench, and things seemed to be fine as he came onto the ice again.

Approaching the halfway mark the Rangers would add on to their lead. Trocheck put the puck in Will Cuylle's skating lane, and he entered the Blackhawk's zone with Sykora. He skated hard toward the net, dragging the Chicago defender slightly out of position before passing it to a now mostly alone Sykora who wristed the puck over Soderblom for his first career NHL goal.

Late in the period, Jaroslav Chmelar showed off his power forward ability, and carried the puck through the offensive zone. He fought off multiple Blackhawks defenders, angled toward the net, and tried to position himself for a shot. Although he eventually lost control of the puck, he made an extra effort to knock it away to Will Borgen, who then passed it to Jonny Brodzinski. Brodzinski quickly fired the puck into the net. Chmelar, who fell near the end of that sequence, got back up and skated toward Brodzinski, more excited than anyone about the goal.

Third Period

Eighteen seconds into the period, the Rangers took a penalty. Zibanejad skating through the neutral zone reached and slashed Anton Frondell, who went down hard; the referee immediately raised his arm. Chicago pressured the Rangers for the next two minutes, but it never looked dangerous, as they registered one shot on net and the Rangers easily killed off the penalty.

Chicago was pressing more this period. Garand was doing an excellent job tracking pucks and resetting into position. He came out aggressively to face a hard, low slapshot from the point, slid over to anticipate the rebound, and made another stop on the side of the net. The Rangers were outplaying and outshooting the Blackhawks, but Garand was by no means bored.

The Rangers took another penalty, leaving the commentators confused thinking Miller would go to the penalty box. However, when the announcement clarified it was for cross-checking, they questioned the play. Miller himself even headed toward the penalty box, but the officials clarified that it was actually Sheary who cross-checked Artyom Levshunov just before Miller got involved and helped double-team him.

The Blackhawks kept the puck in the Rangers' zone for most of the power play. They cycled the puck and passed it over to Nick Lardis, who took a shot on net, but Garand fought it off. The Rangers cleared the puck and managed to get a chance of their own, helping to kill the rest of the penalty.

Close to ten minutes in, Sykora and Ethan Delmastro got into it behind the Blackhawks' net, and Cuylle quickly came to his aid. Sykora, not wanting Cuylle to fight his battles for him, grabbed the next two Blackhawks who wandered over to join the fun, and the officials had to come over and break it all up. Sacha Boisvert, Delmastro, and Cuylle would all be going to the box, giving the Rangers their first power play of the game.

The Rangers confidently moved the puck around during the power play. Right after the face-off, Zibanejad sent a howlitzer on net, and the pressure continued for the next minute and change. Trocheck set up Zibanejad near the net, but the Rangers' center didn't connect cleanly, and Soderblom was able to keep it out. The puck came around and exited the zone; Fox, awkwardly pivoting, was beaten by Slaggert, who got another breakaway on Garand, who again stopped the Blackhawks' forward.

Right after the game returned to even strength, the Rangers earned another power play when Alex Vlasic didn't take kindly to Chmelar bumping him and slashed the stick out of his hands. The Blueshirts once again immediately took advantage of the Blackhawks face-off. After the win, the puck was passed around, and Adam Fox shot it toward the net. Lafrenière, hovering in the slot, deflected it up and over Soderblom for a power play goal. Since the Olympic break, Lafrenière has scored ten goals, with five of them coming off deflections, according to Kenny Albert.

Minutes later, Fortescue intercepted the puck in the neutral zone. He skated into Chicago's zone and passed over to Taylor Raddysh, who was coming in with speed. Raddysh quickly skated down the boards and found Brodzinski in the middle, who shot at the net, beating Soderblom for his second goal of the night. This gave Fortescue, the rookie defenseman, his first career NHL point.

The Blackhawks were getting frustrated, and it was showing. Shortly after the Rangers went up 6-1, a big skirmish broke out on the right boards, leading to Will Borgen and Sacha Boisvert dropping the gloves and Borgen winning the battle of fisticuffs handily. The Rangers got another power play from this, and Sullivan decided to put some new players on the power play, including Sykora, but unfortunately, nothing came of the man advantage this time.

The rest of the game was an easy for the Rangers, and the team all crowded around Garand, celebrating the goaltender’s first NHL win. Shesterkin made sure to grab the puck for his teammate, ensuring Garand was able to have his milestone keepsake. While the Rangers had a solid effort tonight, it should be said, that yes they played well, but also perhaps more importantly the Blackhawks played quite poorly.