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 He did it again Wednesday night, only this time it was as a member
of the Chicago Blackhawks.
Richards broke a scoreless tie midway through the period with his
11th goal of the season and the Blackhawks edged the Rangers 1-0 in
his first game at Madison Square Garden since the Rangers bought out
his contract last summer.
After an unfettered Richards curled out from behind the net and
wristed a shot over the catching glove of Rangers goaltender Cam
Talbot, who made 30 saves, he celebrated by turning toward the glass
along the right-wing boards and raising his arms to the crowd.
As much as he wanted to play it off as just another goal, the
ear-to-ear grin on his face in the locker room after the game
betrayed Richards.
"Tonight was a little special," Richards said. "It's a bonus to get
one in this building against them, but not in a bad way. I have
nothing bad to say about the organization or New York. Everyone
knows how much I love playing here. It was pretty cool to score
against them and win the game."
Goaltender Scott Darling made the goal count, stopping all 25 shots
he faced to improve to 7-3-0 with a 1.96 goals-against average and
.936 save percentage in his rookie season. His best save came in the
first period when Rangers left winger Rick Nash slipped behind the
defense only to be stopped by the sprawling, 6-foot-6 goaltender.
"I was lucky he hit me in the leg with the puck," Darling said. "The
guys played awesome. They kept the scoring chances and shots down
and made my life easy and I just tried to do my job."
The Blackhawks (43-21-6) have won five of six and moved to within
three points of the St. Louis Blues and Anaheim Ducks for the best
record in the Western Conference. They are also three points behind
the Rangers (44-18-7) and the Montreal Canadiens for the league's
best record.
"That was a big win for us," Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said.
"Across the board, it was a tight game, but it was an important two
points for us."
The Rangers had their five-game winning streak snapped, although
they had a chance to take a 1-0 lead seconds before Richards scored.
Defenseman Dan Boyle took a cross-ice pass with the Rangers pushing
on a three-on-two break and had Darling out of position. Boyle's
wrist shot rang off the crossbar and caromed away, allowing the
Blackhawks to turn the puck up ice.
The Blackhawks caught a break in the first period when Rangers
center Dominic Moore stashed a loose back past Darling, but the goal
was waved off after an official blew the play dead before the puck
crossed line.
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"We had some posts and some really good looks at times," Rangers
defenseman Ryan McDonagh said, "but it wasn't meant to be. It wasn't
going our way as far as the offense. I think we defended pretty well
and wish we could have gotten one bounce or two or a deflection on
the power play to find the back of the net."
Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said, "We missed a grade-A opportunity
right before their goal. We gave (Richards) too much room there and
he put it in the back of the net. That's the type of game it was."
Starting with the Stars on Saturday, Chicago's next four games are
against non-playoff teams, which means the door is open to make a
push for home-ice advantage throughout the playoffs. If the
Blackhawks can avoid a letdown, they could be looking down on the
rest of the league by the end of the month.
"Each game will be a different challenge," Quenneville said. "We've
got some momentum. We should be excited about going to into Dallas
and we'll go from there."
NOTES: Blackhawks LW Joakim Nordstrom returned from a four-game
suspension. He replaced RW Kris Versteeg. ... The Blackhawks
scratched LW Dan Carcillo and D Michal Rozsival. ... Rangers G
Henrik Lundqvist, out six weeks with a neck injury, addressed the
media before the game and said he expects to be back soon. He will
practice with the team for about a week before he and coaches decide
when he will return to the lineup. ... New York RW Martin St. Louis
(knee) is expected to miss 10-14 days. ... Rangers D Kevin Klein
(arm) did not play. He is expected back in three weeks.
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