Connor Bedard registered a goal and an assist and Spencer Knight pitched his second shutout of the season for the host Chicago Blackhawks in a 3-0 win against the New York Rangers on Wednesday.
Bedard’s snap shot gave the Blackhawks a 2-0 advantage at 14:27 of the second period as Andre Burakovsky broke up the ice and set the center up with a cross-ice pass. It was the 20-year-old Bedard’s 19th goal of the season, tying him for third in the NHL alongside Jason Robertson (Dallas Stars) and Bo Horvat (New York Islanders).
Louis Crevier and Tyler Bertuzzi also scored for the Blackhawks, who were outscored 13-1 across back-to-back losses over the weekend. Knight made 21 saves in the seventh shutout of his career.
Igor Shesterkin made 22 saves for the Rangers, who have lost three straight after back-to-back overtime losses over the weekend. New York registered just one shot on goal over three power-play attempts.
Crevier put Chicago on the board 1-0 with a short-handed goal at 7:08 of the second period. Matt Grzelcyk got the puck in the Blackhawks’ zone and passed it off to his fellow defenseman Crevier, who broke up the ice to score on Shesterkin with a backhanded shot.
Bertuzzi made it 3-0 at 3:52 of the third period. Shesterkin stopped a shot by Ryan Greene, and Bertuzzi scored on the rebound with a wrist shot on Shesterkin’s glove side.
Ryan Donato appeared to put Chicago up 2-0 at 10:40 of the second period. The Rangers successfully challenged the goal due to a hand pass, and video replay revealed Colton Dach knocked the puck with his glove from behind New York’s net to help set up the goal.
Before their first goal, the Blackhawks registered just one shot on goal on a power play at 2:31 of the second period as Rangers forward Matthew Robertson was serving a holding penalty on Oliver Moore. Chicago outshot New York 10-6 in the scoreless first period.
