There are tight games that feel like the postseason, and then there are games like this.
The Rangers and Blackhawks took the Garden ice on Wednesday night, and the two highly skilled teams played a game with few mistakes, and fewer fireworks. Nicest thing to say might be that it was as well-defended a game as anyone could have liked to see.
But of course there has to be a mistake, and a rare lapse in defensive-zone coverage from the Rangers allowed their former brethren, Brad Richards, to score to game-winner en route to a 1-0 Blackhawks win. It snapped the Rangers' five-game winning streak and gave Chicago's 26-year-old journeyman rookie goaltender, Scott Darling, his first career shutout in 10 NHL starts.
Richards was inexplicably left alone at the right post, when defenseman Matt Hunwick got caught behind the Rangers net and his partner, Dan Boyle, was nowhere to be found following a play just seconds before when he rung one off the Chicago crossbar. Richards settled the puck down, and from point blank he lifted one over Cam Talbot's shoulder to take a 1-0 lead with just over 12 minutes remaining in the third.
The Rangers got a power play with 4:04 remaining in the third, but couldn't get one past Darling.
The teams had played a 1-0 overtime game March 8 in Chicago, when Derick Brassard won it in the extra period. But that was a game filled with back-and-forth action — and included some terrific goaltending from the Talbot.
Talbot once again go the nod in nets, as his time slowly whittles away as the starter, with Henrik Lundqvist cleared on Tuesday for a full practice as he recovers from the blood vessel injury in the back of his neck.
Talbot didn't get a ton of work in this one, but was steady when he needed to be.
"In the time that we needed him to be the go-to guy, the No. 1 guy, he certainly did the job that was expected," coach Alain Vigneault said of Talbot, who is now 13-3-3 in starting 19 of the 21 games Lundqvist has missed. "He's definitely proven to himself and his teammates that he can perform as a No. 1 guy and get the job done."
The Rangers (44-18-7) kept their five-point lead over the idle Islanders atop the Metropolitan Division, with the Blueshirts still holding three games in hand over their suburban rivals.
They were arguably the hottest team in the league, coming in having gone 6-0-1 in their previous seven, as well as 15-2-3 in the 20 games since Lundqvist went down. They were also playing without top-six winger Martin St. Louis, missing his first game since apparently injuring his right knee in Sunday's 2-1 win over the Panthers.
"We have Marty go down," center Derek Stepan said, "and now we have to make some movements around, and that's part of a season."
The Blackhawks (43-21-6) surprisingly scratched forward Kris Versteeg, who was struggling to find his game while his team went 7-1-1 over their past nine to stay in the race for the West's Central Division. They remain without the dominant Patrick Kane, as well, who will miss the rest of the season after breaking his clavicle two weeks ago.
The second period was tight-checking, with not a lot of offensive chances for either team. Richards, who had a video montage celebrating his years on Broadway, made a nice move around Keith Yandle, but his backhand was thwarted by Talbot.
The scoreless first had Darling denying a Rick Nash breakaway with a sprawling pad save, and Talbot stopping Jonathan Toews on the doorstep on one of Chicago's two power plays.
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