Game Recap: Blackhawks @ Rangers 12/9/2024
The Blackhawks get Sorensen his first win against a defensively bad Rangers team.
Anders Sorensen delivered the tactical changes he promised. With Luke Richardson, he said the right things, we just never saw that implemented on ice, which makes you think. Sorensen wanted speed and involved defensemen in the OZ and that's what we got.
The game had its flaws, but the Hawks played the better hockey. Garbage Rangers defense led to a new low in New York. If I were a Rangers fan, I would be livid. The boo-birds we heard confirmed that. The Hawks weren't perfect either, but it's a win.
Wasn't it refreshing to watch the Hawks play like that?
The Hawks started the game a little sluggish. The Hawks had a 37.5 Corsi at 5v5 and a 35.67 xG% in that period. Once they figured out that the Rangers suck at defense, they turned it around owning 60% of shot attempts in the second and 66.67% in the third.
The first goal is a good example of the Hawks taking advantage of the poor defensive positioning of the Rangers. Actually... it doesn't look too different from Brandon Tanev's goal on Sunday. Taylor Hall carries the puck from behind the net and passes through 2 seems to find Tyler Bertuzzi. Good stuff.
Hall would also finish the night with 1 goal and 1 assist. Let's keep it going now, Taylor.Kevin Korchinski got called up? Hell yes. Last night was great for Korch. It's not a popular opinion, but I don't think Korchinski belongs in Rockford. I'm not expecting Korch to stay up here too long, he's only up here because of Alec Martinez's injury.
Korch played better on the defensive side of things, and I worried because he paired with TJ Brodie. Korch ended up having a 54.29 Corsi and a 59.10 xG% at 5v5. With 2 shots on goal and 4 shot attempts, he looked good on offense too. His most impressive play was Korch actually shutting down Artemi Panarin.
https://twitter.com/MarkLazerus/status/1866314699392082106
The Hawks' second goal, a beautiful pass from Connor Bedard to Hall, was initiated by Jason Dickinson. Dickinson steals the puck from K'Andre Miller and makes the pass under pressure. That can't be ignored.
The defense was much more noticeable in the OZ. Even Connor Murphy created offense, he had 2 shots on goal and 5 shot attempts. Because the blueline was activating in the OZ, it created ugly breakdowns in the Rangers' defensive structure.
Those breakdowns would give the Blackhawks 11 5v5 high-danger chances. The Rangers only had 5. The heat map below gives you a good visual.
It's great to see Arvid Soderblom get a win because he played a great night. Soderblom made 29 of 30 saves and had a .967 SV%. Some of those saves were pretty big.
Connor Bedard looked all right. I'm still not happy with Ilya Mikheyev being up there on the first line. Bedard's line put up a 31.82 Corsi, an xG% of 51.72, and generated 5 shots while facing 7. Bedard had 1 shot on goal and 1 shot attempt in all situations. I'm happy he got his point but let's get this kid going.
The Hawks play the Islanders in New York at 6:30 PM CT.
Let's go Hawks.