Blackhawks Routed By Rangers 6-1 At Madison Square Garden On Friday

The Chicago Blackhawks took on the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Friday night. This was the third game out of four on their East Coast road trip.

The first game of the trip on Tuesday night was an impressive win over the New York Islanders, while they were blown out by the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday. This game, the second half of a back-to-back, was a chance for the Blackhawks to bounce back.

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Earlier in the week, Anton Frondell made his NHL debut, while Sacha Boisvert did one game later. The excitement of their first games is in the past, and now it’s about getting them to become contributors on the team.

After losing to Philadelphia 5-1 on Thursday, they were beaten by the Rangers 6-1 one night later. It’s a young team, and it showed by being outscored 11-2 over two nights.

Nick Lardis scored Chicago’s lone goal on Friday by getting himself into a good position so he could take advantage of a pretty passing play by every skater on the ice. That’s three goals in the last four games for Lardis, who continues to find the back of the net no matter what level he’s at.

From there, the Rangers scored six unanswered to skate home with a 6-1 victory. Although New York and Chicago are at the same level in the standings,  the former has veterans who can bring their A-game on any given night, which is usually enough to take down a young team like the Blackhawks.

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The excitement of two prospects joining the lineup has gone away, but they were both noticeable in the loss to the Rangers.

For Frondell, who led all Blackhawks forwards in ice-time, he had one play where he stripped US Olympian JT Miller of the puck and found Connor Bedard all alone in front of the net. The shot was saved, but more often than not, that effort will result in goals. It was one of many noticeable plays that Frondell had over the course of the match.

As for Sacha Boisvert, he participated in his first career NHL fight. He mentioned that as a desire of his right when he signed, and now he has that checked off his list.

The Blackhawks didn’t go after JT Miller right away when he hit Artom Levshunov, but they handled it later on, and that eventually led to Boisvert’s fight against Will Borgen.

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Making a name for himself in any way that he can is a key to earning a roster spot in 2026-27, and he’s done that through two games in limited ice time. As his role grows, so will his level of play.

The Blackhawks poor results can mostly be attributed to bad puck possession and defensive decision-making. Shots aren’t the end-all, be-all, but giving up 39 or more in four of the last five games is not ideal.

The Rangers had just 10 against the Ottawa Senators a couple of nights ago, and they had 39 against the Blackhawks. There is a sincere difference in competitive level between the Blackhawks and other NHL teams right now.

This is a tough stretch for the Blackhawks. No matter who is on the other side, a young team like them is going to struggle at times with all of their inexperience in the lineup. The core of the team must grind through and take that next step in their development, and it will only happen with reps like these.

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Wins over the Islanders are a glimpse into how good things can be, and defeats like these two late-week losses show how far away they are.

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