Korchinski Makes NHL Return, Blackhawks Beat Rangers 2-1

The Chicago Blackhawks came into Monday night’s game on a bad streak. Losers of five straight, they needed a win in the worst way. Reaching out of this slump would be difficult with a trip looming against the three New York area teams.

The first stop was Madison Square Garden where they took on the New York Rangers. Lately, the Rangers have been struggling. Losers of seven games out of their last nine, things have been looking bleak.

The Blackhawks may be in 32nd place, but they can take down a vulnerable team that’s also been going through tough times.

At 8:10 of the first period, Taylor Hall made a wonderful cross-ice pass which found Tyler Bertuzzi who didn’t miss with his shot. Taking 1-0 leads in the first period has been a strength for the Hawks this season.

Hanging onto those leads has not. That was somewhat true in this one as Will Cuylle scored a short-handed goal at 19:17 of the same period. Instead of gaining some momentum (or even adding another goal) at the end of the first, they let the Rangers tie it with a shorty.

Thankfully, Taylor Hall came through again in the second. This time he got the puck on Igor Shesterkin thanks to a great play by Connor Bedard. Shesterkin accidentally helped it cross the goal line at 6:16 of the second.

The Hawks needed a big game from some of their top players. Bertuzzi and Bedard each got on the board with points which was nice. Hall having two points is good for his game and it did wonders for his team. If these three get hot, they won’t lose five in a row again.

There was no scoring the rest of the way and the Hawks took the 2-1 final to the bank. It was a great way for them to get a victory to finally feel good about themselves again.

This win was the first in the career of interim head coach Anders Sorensen. He becomes the first Swedish-born head coach to ever win an NHL game.

Arvid Soderblom, another wonderful Swede, was brilliant. He made 29 saves on 30 shots with the one goal against and a .967 save percentage. If it weren’t for the power play mishap in the first period, we could be talking about his first career shutout but that will have to wait.

With Petr Mrazek out, they need more of this from Soderblom who probably should have been playing more anyway based on his numbers. Getting a huge win against the Rangers with Mrazek out should do wonders for his already high confidence.

Another player worth mentioning in this game is Kevin Korchinski. Every young defenseman on the team did well but Korchinski was noticeable in his first NHL game of the season.

He earned himself another game in his first NHL game of the season following his call-up. He has been stellar with the Rockford IceHogs and now he’s bringing it to the NHL level against a high-end opponent.

That previously mentioned next game for Korchinski will come on Thursday when the Blackhawks visit the New York Islanders. 

If these performances continue in the NHL for the young defenseman, he won’t go back to Rockford for a while. Chicago would be a much better organization if their former seventh-overall pick helped them win games.

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