Rangers 1, Blackhawks 0 (OT)

[March 09, 2015]  CHICAGO -- New York Rangers center Derick Brassard happily summarized his feelings after scoring the overtime goal in a 1-0 win against the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday night.

"It felt pretty good," Brassard said. "I hadn't scored in a decade."

Fourteen games, to be exact.

Brassard scored 32 seconds into overtime to lift the Rangers, who blanked the Blackhawks for the first time since Jan. 25, 1969. New York goaltender Cam Talbot stopped all 29 shots he faced to record his fifth shutout of the season and the eighth of his career.

The Rangers (40-17-7) improved to 11-2-3 since losing goaltender Henrik Lundqvist to a neck injury. New York has earned at least one point in 16 of the past 18 games.

Chicago goaltender Corey Crawford stopped all 35 shots he faced during regulation time before allowing a goal on the first shot of overtime. The Blackhawks (39-21-6) were shut out for the seventh time this season.

"This was another playoff-type game tonight where every inch on the ice was battled extremely hard," Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said. "Both teams were trying to make offensive plays. It was a great game. We had some great saves from both goaltenders. Took it to overtime. It doesn't get much tighter than that."

For the game-winning goal, Brassard took a cross-ice pass from right winger Mats Zuccarello and fired a slap shot past Crawford's stick side. Teammates mobbed Brassard behind the Chicago net after the goal, which marked his 14th of the season and his first since Feb. 4 against the Boston Bruins.

Brassard said he knew where he wanted to place his shot before releasing the blast.

"Like every goalie, when they go down, they just stay nice and tight," Brassard said. "There's no way there I could score on the glove side, so I just tried to go short side, and it worked."

Talbot's teammates assisted in his shutout effort by blocking 18 shots in front of the net. Rangers center J.T. Miller limped toward the bench in the first period after stepping in front of a line drive by Blackhawks defenseman David Rundblad. In the second period, Rangers defenseman Kevin Klein lowered his body to block a slap shot by Blackhawks defenseman Duncan Keith.

"The forwards did a good job tonight pouring back, taking away their transition game and really making them take shots that they don't want to take," Talbot said. "They like to make those small plays into the middle, but with our guys coming back and the back pressure, it allowed our 'D' to have good gaps and force them to the outside. Any time you can limit them to those shots, you consider that a good game."

Chicago's power-play struggles continued against New York's top-10 penalty-killing unit. The Blackhawks went 0-for-4 on the man advantage and are 0-for-13 in the past five games.

Keith struggled to explain the reasons behind the Blackhawks' recent scoring skid. Chicago has been shut out twice in the past four games, including a 4-0 loss against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Feb. 27.

"I don't know what to say about that, about why we don't score goals," Keith said. "We've just got to get a greasy goal. Get a rebound or get shots at the net."

Crawford stopped 16 shots in the first period, five in the second period and 14 in the third. He drew a standing ovation with 7:12 remaining in the third period after stopping three shots in quick succession, including a point-blank opportunity by Rangers left winger Chris Kreider and a wrist shot from the slot by right winger Martin St. Louis.

Kreider and left winger Rick Nash led the Rangers with five shots apiece. Chicago left winger Patrick Sharp led his team with four shots.

"We had some chances," Chicago coach Joel Quenneville said. "Not enough quality to the chances, though."

NOTES: Blackhawks LW Bryan Bickell was a healthy scratch for the first time this season. Bickell, 28, has scored one goal with no assists in his past 12 games. ... Rangers LW Tanner Glass and D Matt Hunwick were healthy scratches. ... Blackhawks RW Patrick Kane said Sunday that he remained on track to return in late May from a broken collarbone. Kane, who leads the team with 64 points in 61 games, was injured Feb. 24 on a cross check by Florida Panthers D Alex Petrovic. ... Rangers G Henrik Lundqvist missed his 16th consecutive game because of a neck injury. The team has not set a timeline for Lundqvist's return.

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