Rangers defeat Connor Bedard, Chicago in Brennan Othmann's debut
Artemi Panarin of the Rangers celebrates his first period goal against Chicago with teammate Vincent Trocheck at Madison Square Garden on Thursday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
One of the things the Rangers have done particularly well this season is bounce back after losses, and two nights earlier, they had been thumped by the Carolina Hurricanes.
So when young Connor Bedard, the No. 1 overall pick in last summer’s NHL Draft, and his Chicago teammates visited Madison Square Garden on Thursday night, the timing was simply unfortunate for them.
Goals by Artemi Panarin and Chris Kreider in the first and second periods and third-period goals by Jacob Trouba and Jimmy Vesey helped the Rangers dispatch the league’s second-worst team, 4-1, in a no-nonsense, strictly business manner.
The win improved the Rangers to 26-10-1 overall and to 10-1 in games following a loss.
Goalie Igor Shesterkin, who was named to the All-Star team Thursday after allowing six goals in Tuesday’s loss to Carolina, made 21 saves to earn his 16th win.
“It’s obviously a little bit extra emphasis on that second game after a loss,’’ center Vincent Trocheck said. “There’s all those cliches, ‘great teams don’t lose two in a row,’ and we take pride in that. And obviously, we focus on some things after losses, like the other night, we go to the drawing board, we watched the tape [and] made some adjustments.’’
Rookie Brennan Othmann, called up from AHL Hartford on Wednesday, made his NHL debut for the Rangers on the day before he turned 21. The Blueshirts’ first-round pick in 2021 was called up after the team learned forward Tyler Pitlick would be out for an extended period with a lower-body injury, and he played an impactful 12 minutes and 26 seconds, registering a team-high five shots on goal.
“I noticed him all night,’’ coach Peter Laviolette said. “His speed and his skill, his ability to create — he probably had at least a half a dozen attempts at the net, some good scoring chances . . . He played a good game.’’
“I’m just excited to play my first NHL game,’’ Othmann said. “You work 20 years for this, and it’s a good early birthday present for tomorrow. And to be able to get two points is definitely good as well.’’
The Rangers opened the scoring on Panarin’s 24th goal, a one-time shot off a cross-ice pass from Alexis Lafreniere at 13:00 of the opening period. Trocheck started the play when he shoved Bedard down to the ice in the Rangers’ zone and took the puck away from him, then passed it up ahead to Lafreniere on the right wing.
“He was kind of roaming around the zone and he was their third guy high, and that’s my responsibility,’’ Trocheck said of his play on Bedard. “I didn’t want him to shimmy- shake me, and luckily I was able to kind of keep him in front of me. And then a three-on-two rush, great pass by Laf, great finish by Bread.’’
Kreider made it 2-0 at 7:25 of the second period when he jammed in a rebound on a power play for his 20th goal. The play survived a video review, as the puck went in off Kreider’s skate, but the officials ruled the puck had not been propelled across the goal line via a “distinct kicking motion.’’
Former Ranger Colin Blackwell got Chicago on the board with his first goal of the season at 17:03, but after K’Andre Miller tripped Blackwell on the ensuing faceoff, Chicago managed only one shot on the ensuing power play and the Rangers took a 2-1 lead into the second intermission.
They made it 3-1 at 1:31 of the third period when Trouba’s shot from outside the right faceoff circle hit the shaft of Chicago forward Philipp Kurashev’s stick and went in over goalie Petr Mrazek’s left shoulder. One minute, 10 seconds later, Vesey banged in a pass from Will Cuylle to make it 4-1.
Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
