Rangers focused on developing younger players in game vs. Blackhawks
The New York Rangers and Chicago Blackhawks are using the final weeks of lost seasons to gauge some of their youth.
Plenty of youth will be on display Friday night when the Rangers host the Blackhawks. New York is eliminated from postseason contention, while Chicago isn't far removed from that fate.
New York (28-35-9, 65 points) announced it was starting a retool on Jan. 16 and will play its first game since officially being eliminated following Wednesday's 4-3 defeat to the host Toronto Maple Leafs.
"I don't think anybody thought we'd be where we are right now, eliminated with this many games left (10)," team captain J.T. Miller said after the Rangers extended their losing streak to a season-high six games.
"But that's not where my mind is right now. It (stinks). Obviously, that's the worst. You don't want that. Right now, we're just worried about playing good hockey games to end the season and feeling good going into the summer, feeling good about our game at least. Try to move in the right direction."
The Rangers hope some recent additions in waiver claims or call-ups from the minor leagues can help them move in the right direction. New York started calling up younger players when Gabe Perreault joined the team in December. The 2023 first-round pick has seven goals and 14 assists in 39 games, although he has not scored a goal in his past seven games.
Perreault also is joined in the lineup by Jaroslav Chmelar (two goals in 18 games) and Adam Sykora, who played 13:33 in his NHL debut on Wednesday.
The Rangers significantly were better than in Monday's 2-1 home loss to the Ottawa Senators, as New York finished with a season-low 10 shots on goal. The team totaled a season-high 43 shots on Wednesday but gave up the first three goals until Alexis Lafreniere and Mika Zibanejad scored on the power play.
Chicago (27-32-13, 67 points) earned a 3-0 home win over the Rangers on Dec. 10 as part of its respectable 13-11-6 start to the season. The Blackhawks started a six-game skid in their next contest and are 14-23-7 since Connor Bedard had a goal and an assist in the first meeting.
Bedard scored his 30th goal on Thursday, but the Blackhawks allowed the first three goals and took a 5-1 loss to the host Philadelphia Flyers. Chicago's latest loss occurred two nights after it earned a 4-3 win over the New York Islanders despite getting outshot 47-24.
On Thursday, the Blackhawks conceded 42 shots on goal. It marked the third time in four games Chicago surrendered at least 40 shots and the eighth time overall.
"We've talked about tighter gaps, and that might've led to our guys running north instead of lateral gapping," Chicago coach Jeff Blashill said. "We want to be a tight-gapping team, get up in the zone and forecheck as a five-man unit, but we can't run up like we did at times today."
The Blackhawks also recently integrated rookie Anton Frondell into their lineup when he made his NHL debut Tuesday. Frondell, the third overall pick in the 2025 NHL Draft, notched his second career assist when he made a backhand pass from behind the net to set up Bedard's latest goal on Thursday.