Blackhawks beat Rangers, 4-2

All things must pass. The Eastern Conference-leading Rangers had won four straight and eight of 10 games. The struggling Blackhawks, who won the Stanley Cup in 2010, had lost nine straight (0-8-1). Each was due for a reversal.

Rangers coach John Tortorella said before Thursday night's 4-2 loss that the Blackhawks would be "desperate" and that a good start was essential. In the first five minutes, the Blackhawks looked like champs. The Rangers and backup goaltender Martin Biron, well, not so much.

"There were a couple of chances for me to make saves to get momentum on our side or to stop their momentum," said Biron, who stopped only three of Chicago's first seven shots. "I wasn't able to do it."

After Dan Girardi covered the puck in the crease, Jonathan Toews beat Biron through the legs on a penalty shot at 1:05 for his 28th goal. Tortorella didn't agree. He said he watched the replay and saw Girardi "just brush the puck away."

At 2:07, Nick Leddy's long shot zipped past 6-8 John Scott's screen and went off the post and in. Then Patrick Sharp raced in on a breakaway to make it 3-0 at the four-minute mark for his 23rd of the season.

Marian Hossa, who had set up Leddy's goal by speeding around with the puck for about 15 seconds while the Rangers watched, took advantage of another defensive lapse, sailed in and extended the lead to 4-0 at 9:38 on Chicago's seventh shot for his 22nd goal. The Rangers' dreadful start forced Tortorella to call a timeout.

"They were a lot hungrier in the first 10 minutes and that's where the game was won," Brad Richards said.

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Tortorella said he didn't for "one second" consider yanking his goalie. "He didn't need to be pulled," Tortorella said of Biron, who is 10-3-1. "He needed to work through it and he did. He's done a ton for this hockey club. They had a couple breakaways and a few other things going on there. Do you want saves? Yeah. But it didn't happen. I really respect how he hung in there."

Marc Staal scored his first of the season on a slap shot from the left circle at 3:04 of the second period for the Rangers' first goal. Staal beat Corey Crawford (22 saves) after the Rangers worked the puck around the zone.

Trailing 4-1 late in the second, the Rangers had a goal disallowed. Ryan Callahan poked the puck in after it sat on the goal line near Crawford's left skate, but the referees ruled that the whistle blew before the puck went over the line.

That's the way it stayed until Ryan McDonagh's shot from the lower left circle was deflected in by Carl Hagelin at the left post with 4:45 to play.

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So the Rangers (37-14-5, 79 points) lost for the second time in the last six home games, but they maintained a seven-point lead over the idle Bruins. The Rangers still hold an eight-point lead in the division over the Flyers, who beat the Sabres, 7-2, Thursday night.

The Rangers, who had three power-play goals in Saturday's win over the Flyers, failed to convert any of their seven chances Thursday night. They totaled 10:06 of power-play time in the game.

After goaltender interference -- the Blackhawks' Viktor Stalberg drove down the right side and cut inside Michael Del Zotto but slammed into Biron -- the Rangers had a power play at 5:34 of the second period, and when Toews was whistled for interference at 8:06, the Rangers had another one.

But that was short-circuited when Richards was called for holding the stick 27 seconds later. Brandon Dubinsky drew four minutes for elbowing and roughing Marcus Kruger less than a minute after Richards' penalty.