NBCSN’s coverage of the 2017-18 NHL season continues with Wednesday Night Rivalry as the New York Rangers host the Chicago Blackhawks at 8 p.m. ET. To watch the game online, click here.
A road trip that began before Christmas will end on Wednesday night in New York City as the Blackhawks visit the Rangers at Madison Square Garden. The time away from home hasn’t been kind to Joel Quenneville’s charges, who are 1-3-1 on the current trip.
The three points gained out out a possible 10 have positioned Chicago four points out of a Western Conference wild card spot. The good news for them is that after Wednesday eight of their next 11 games will be at United Center where they have a 10-5-2 record this season.
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While Henrik Lundqvist is once again expected between the pipes for New York, the Blackhawks will be going with a goaltender they found on this trip as Corey Crawford gets back to 100 percent health on injured reserve.
The Jeff Glass story is a great one. The 32-year-old Calgary native finally made his NHL debut on Dec. 29 after spending his professional career in the American Hockey League and Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League. Glass, a 2004 third-round pick by the Ottawa Senators, made 42 saves in a 4-3 win over the Edmonton Oilers and made another 35 in a 4-3 loss to the Flames two nights later.
Who knows how long it’ll last, but Glass has given this Blackhawks team something to rally around as they try to climb back up the standings in hopes not missing the playoffs for the first time since 2008.
“It’s just hockey,” Glass said last week via the Chicago Tribune. “I’ve been doing this for a while, even though it was my first game in this league the other night. I like to think that’s the edge I have over other young guys — maybe I’m a different kind of rookie, and I’m OK with that.”
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Sean Leahy is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @Sean_Leahy.