Rangers pull away in 3rd, defeat Blackhawks

NEW YORK -- Vincent Trocheck had three assists for the second time in three games, and the New York Rangers defeated the Chicago Blackhawks 4-1 at Madison Square Garden on Thursday.

Trocheck also had three assists and a goal in a 5-1 win at the Tampa Bay Lightning on Dec. 30. He has had three assists four times this season and three or more points in six games.

Artemi Panarin had a goal and an assist, Chris Kreider scored his 20th goal of the season, and Igor Shesterkin made 21 saves for the Rangers (26-10-1) two nights after allowing six goals on 27 shots in a 6-1 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes here.

Shesterkin was among 32 players selected Thursday by the NHL to play in the 2024 NHL All-Star Game at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto on Feb. 3.

New York is 10-1-0 in 11 games following a loss this season.

"There's obviously a little bit of extra emphasis on that second game after a loss," Trocheck said. "There's all those cliches, great teams don't lose two in a row, and we take pride in that. Obviously, we focus on some things after losses. Like the other night we go to the drawing board, we watch the tape and we made some adjustments to whatever we thought we were doing wrong."

Colin Blackwell scored, and Petr Mrazek made 28 saves for the Blackhawks (11-25-2), who lost their fourth straight game (0-3-1).

Chicago, which concludes a five-game road trip at the New Jersey Devils on Friday, is without forwards Tyler Johnson (right foot), Andreas Athanasiou (groin), Anthony Beauvillier (left wrist) and Taylor Raddysh (groin), and defenseman Seth Jones (shoulder). Forward Taylor Hall is out for the season with a knee injury.

"I don't know how many teams can absorb this many injuries," Blackhawks coach Luke Richardson said. "We're trying to get some people to play with some continuity with some new lines and a new lineup, but it's what we're dealt right now. We have to deal with it. I think at times we've played really well over the last two games, but playing really well, it's not enough."

Panarin gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead at 13:00 of the first period, scoring with a one-timer from the left face-off circle off a pass from Alexis Lafrenière. Trocheck started the rush in the defensive zone by knocking down Connor Bedard and taking the puck from him.

"He was their third guy high and that's my responsibility," Trocheck said. "I was going at him on the point. I was a little nervous. He's got some moves for sure. I didn't want him to shimmy-shake me. Luckily I was able to keep him in front of me. Then [on the] 3-on-2 rush, great pass by 'Laf' and great finish by 'Bread.'"

Kreider made it 2-0 with a power-play goal at 7:25 of the second period.

Mrazek made a save on Trocheck and the puck bounced up and off the crossbar. Alex Vlasic couldn't clear it off the goal line as Kreider was coming into the area, and the puck went in off Kreider's right skate as he was trying to stop in the crease.

The call on the ice was a good goal, which was confirmed after video review by the NHL Situation Room to determine if there was a distinct kicking motion.

"By letter of the law if it's a stopping motion it's supposed to count," Rangers coach Peter Laviolette said. "It's got to be a kicking motion. Stopping is allowed, so I think they got it right."

Blackwell cut it to 2-1 at 17:03, capitalizing as New York was in the middle of a line change.

Jaycob Megna found Boris Katchouk with a stretch pass up the left side, and Blackwell had a step on K'Andre Miller. He received Katchouk’s pass between the circles, deked forehand-to-backhand and scored his first goal since Feb. 10.

"I saw our [defenseman] fire it up to the far blue line and [Katchouk] made a great play," Blackwell said. "He waited a little bit until the stick got out of the way and slid it over to me. I was lucky to find the back of the net for the first time in a long time."

Jacob Trouba pushed the lead to 3-1 at 1:31 of the third period with a sharp-angled shot from the right circle, and Jimmy Vesey scored 70 seconds later for the 4-1 final at 2:41.

"It was good, right out of the gate," Laviolette said of the Rangers' third period. "We talked about that because of the goal at the end of the second. I didn't like the line change. Now it's a 2-1 game, but I liked the fact that we came out with the right intent right away. We started playing fast, playing in their end, putting pucks at the net. Trouba's goal was a big goal, followed it up right away and kept it going."

NOTES: Bedard, the Blackhawks’ rookie center, also was selected for the All-Star Game. … Megna made his Chicago debut after he was claimed off waivers from the Seattle Kraken on Wednesday. … Rangers forward Brennan Othmann made his NHL debut after being recalled from Hartford of the American Hockey League on Wednesday. The 20-year-old led all skaters with five shots on goal and eight shot attempts in 12:26 of ice time. … Kreider has nine seasons with 20 or more goals, tied for second in Rangers history with Jean Ratelle. Rod Gilbert had 12 seasons with at least 20 goals. Kreider has 11 points (four goals, seven assists) in an eight-game point streak, the longest of his NHL career.