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Rangers nip Blackhawks on Hagelin's marker

Jan 9, 2014 - 4:57 AM Chicago, IL (SportsNetwork.com) - Carl Hagelin's goal with 5:57 remaining in the third period staked the New York Rangers to a 3-2 win over the Chicago Blackhawks, a result that ended the defending Stanley Cup champion's 10-game point streak.

Brad Richards scored in the first period and helped set up Hagelin's clincher later on, while Henrik Lundqvist turned aside 35 shots in New York's 12th win in its last 16 outings on the road.

"Beating the Stanley Cup champions in this building is not an easy task," said Rangers head coach Alain Vigneault. "We knew it would take our best effort, and it did."

Chicago, which came in 6-0-4 over its last 10 outings, overcame an early 2-0 deficit on second-period goals from Jonathan Toews and Brandon Bollig, with Corey Crawford coming through with 29 saves in a losing cause.

Crawford was able to keep the contest locked at 2-2 with several impressive stops to begin the third period, including close-range denials of Derick Brassard and Ryan Callahan before the Rangers' Marc Staal struck the post with a blast from the point 4:35 in.

New York kept the pressure on, though, and was rewarded when the Blackhawks failed to clear the zone and the Rangers got the puck to Staal for another long shot. Crawford kicked it away, but Hagelin was in position to lift the rebound over the netminder's glove for the go-ahead score.

Lundqvist withstood a late barrage to make the lead hold up, notching four saves with Crawford pulled with just over a minute to go.

"In the end Hank came up big, like he's supposed to!," said Vigneault in a tongue-in-cheek tone.

Lundqvist was sharp in the first period as well, swatting away all 15 shots he faced as the Rangers raced out to a 2-0 lead on goals by Richards and Mats Zuccarello.

After taking in a pass off the boards from Callahan, Richards slid a shot between Crawford's pads just over five minutes in to sent New York in front. The Rangers then capitalized on a power play midway through the frame to extend the margin, with Zuccarello storming down the left side and blowing past a defender before successfully depositing a wraparound try.

"I think early in the game we didn't have that pace we were looking for," Blackhawks head coach Joel Quenneville remarked. "It took us a while to get going."

Chicago scored on a man-advantage situation to close the gap with 6:17 elapsed in the second period, then struck again less than two minutes later to draw even.

Patrick Sharp had a long drive blocked in front of the New York net with the Blackhawks skating on a 5-on-4, but Toews put the rebound over Lundqvist's shoulder through a screen to get Chicago on the board.

Shortly after, Bollig ended a 3-on-2 rush with a wrister that beat Lundqvist to the stick side to knot the score at 2-2 at the 8:05 mark.

Game Notes

The Blackhawks had earned a point in nine straight on home ice, having gone 6-0-3 over that stretch ... The Rangers improved to 18-2-1 when scoring the game's first goal this season ... Forward Daniel Carcillo, acquired by New York from Los Angeles on Saturday, made his Rangers' debut and drew a penalty that led to Zuccarello's tally. Carcillo played in 51 games while spending the previous two seasons with the Blackhawks ... Sharp has nine goals and four assists over his last eight games ... New York went 1-for-2 on the power play and is 19-of-74 (25.7 percent) with the man advantage on the road this season.