Blackhawks edge Antti Raanta, Rangers

NEW YORK -- Scott Darling made 33 saves to help the Chicago Blackhawks defeat Antti Raanta and the New York Rangers 2-1 at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday.
"Absolutely amazing," Blackhawks forward Artem Anisimov said of Darling.
Darling, making his sixth straight start since Corey Crawford had to go on injured reserve following an appendectomy he had Dec. 3, outdueled Raanta, who had his shutout streak end at 176:22 when Trevor van Riemsdyk scored at 5:18 of the second period.

WATCH: All Blackhawks vs. Rangers highlights
Raanta, who started in place of a healthy Henrik Lundqvist for the fourth consecutive game, made 24 saves but couldn't prevent his three-game winning streak from ending.
The Blackhawks (19-8-4) are 3-0-1 in their past four games, with Darling allowing three goals on 117 shots for a .974 save percentage. He and Chicago lost to Raanta and New York 1-0 in overtime on Friday.
"Darling was, I think, their best player and made some key saves in some key moments," Raanta said. "When they got the second goal late in the second, it was tough to come back."
Raanta allowed one goal on 63 shots in the previous three games. New York (20-10-1) scored at 8:15 of the second period when Jesper Fast ended his 17-game drought.

"We had enough looks to tie it up but couldn't do it," Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said.
The Blackhawks took a 2-1 lead on Anisimov's goal with 1:09 remaining in the second period. It came after a diving stick save by Darling on Mats Zuccarello 34 seconds earlier.
"You can only worry about the next shot, but it's nice when you make a big save like at the end of the second and the guys go down and score a goal," Darling said. "It's nice to contribute to stuff like that."
Darling made 15 saves in the second period and 11 in the third. He stopped Marek Hrivik on a rebound and Jimmy Vesey at the left post with his left pad with 2:07 left.
"He's been unbelievable," van Riemsdyk said. "A couple highlight-reel saves there that just leave you saying, 'Wow.' He's been awesome. He's so steady. He's making all the saves. He's doing a great job handling pucks. He's been great, and we have a ton of confidence in him too."
Van Riemsdyk ended Raanta's shutout streak by scoring on a far-side shot from the right hash marks off a pass from Artemi Panarin.
"I think I overplayed it a little bit, slid a little bit too hard and their [defenseman] made a good play and just put it in the empty net backdoor," Raanta said.
Fast tied it when he batted the puck into the net from in front of the left post. Darling made 18 saves after the goal.

Goal of the game

Anisimov created space for himself in the slot by moving away from Rangers defenseman Nick Holden. It was enough room for Brian Campbell to find him from behind the goal line for a one-timer that beat Raanta.

Save of the game

There were many to choose from, but arguably none were bigger than Darling's save on Zuccarello at 18:17 of the second period. Darling dove back after making the initial save and appeared to get his stick on Zuccarello's shot off the rebound.

Highlight of the game

With 1:20 remaining in the third period, Rangers forward J.T. Miller went hard into Darling, knocking him down and his stick out of his hands. Blackhawks forward Marian Hossa was there to knock the puck away from the goal line and then blocked defenseman Dan Girardi's shot, leading to a clear for Chicago.

Unsung performance of the game

Vesey was all over the ice and creating chances. He had seven shots on goal, many from the slot, in 14:46 of ice time.

They said it

"Coming out of the second period, we didn't deserve to be up 2-1, so it was a good thing. I thought we were OK in the third period, but Darling was the reason we kept them off the scoreboard." --Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville
"It's a nice thing to get [to play in four] games in a row, but there is still some work to do and you always learn something from every game. It's going to be good to go practice tomorrow and get some work done." -- Rangers goalie Antti Raanta

Need to know

Rangers captain Ryan McDonagh was scratched because of the flu. The defenseman skated in warmups but left the ice early. Adam Clendening took his spot in the lineup. … The Rangers played the first 16:13 of the second period without Brady Skjei, who was cut by a skate blade late in the first and had to get medical attention. … Chicago is 13-0-0 when leading after two periods.

What's next

Blackhawks: At the New York Islanders on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; MSG+, CSN-CH, NHL.TV)
Rangers: At the Dallas Stars on Thursday (8:30 p.m. ET; FS-SW+, MSG, NHL.TV)