Scott Darling’s Shuts Out New York In Chicago Blackhawks 1-0 Victory

Two of the better teams in the NHL and possibly a Stanley Cup Final preview matchup took place at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday Night between the Chicago Blackhawks vs New York Rangers and here is how things took place on the ice.

FIRST PERIOD

The Chicago Blackhawks looked like they were handling the New York Rangers speed better than they did 10 days ago and the Hawks were the more aggressive team, but Cam Talbot through 4 periods and a minute in overtime has the Blackhawks number and is was evident when Talbot stoned Jonathan Toews on the doorstep.

The Blackhawks looked to get bailed out when Scott Darling making a rare start made a couple of saves and while the puck was loose the whistle sounded and the play called dead while the puck went into the back of the net.  Darling after that play made two very good saves to keep the game scoreless.

The Hawks trail on the shot chart 8-7 but I would say they carried most of the play in the period except for a couple Rick Nash moments.  The Hawks need to get one past Talbot quickly though!

2ND PERIOD

The Blackhawks tried to force the action early in the period with Marian Hossa leading the way, but the Hawks just couldn’t find an answer for Talbot and it was getting quite frustrating!

The refs missed a couple of potential Hawks penalties but they did call a phantom tripping call on Andrew Dejardins in the middle of the period yet the Blachawks powerplay was stellar.

The Rangers went out of their way to shut down the Toews line and the problem for the Hawks offense was nobody else stepped up through two periods with the only excitement being Niklas Hjalmarsson hitting the post and two premature goal celebrations by the MSG crowd.  The Rangers lead 15-14 on the shot chart after two periods.

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THIRD PERIOD

Finally and I do mean finally the Chicago Blachawks got on the board when Brad Richards got the puck behind the net waited for Talbot to commit and then put the puck in the back of the net for the first goal of the game.  The Blackhawks had two more great chances well I mean Patrick Sharp had two great chances but couldn’t pad the lead.

The story of the game was the play of the backup goalies but it was Scott Darling who stole the show stopping everything and anything the Rangers could throw at him and when the final horn sounded it was Darling’s first career shut out and a 1-0 Hawks win.

– Four Straight wins for the Blackhawks for the first time since December

-Kris Versteeg finally was benched by Coach Q which was a surprise instead of Dejardins

-Dejardins picked up his first point in a Blackhawks uniform on the Richards goal

-The ex-Ranger was clearly excited with his go ahead goal

-The Blackhawks play next in Dallas on Saturday Night

HAWKS WIN!! HAWKS WIN!!

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