Tyler Bertuzzi scored for the third straight game and Wyatt Kaiser notched his career first, but the Chicago Blackhawks coughed up five straight goals en route to a 6-2 loss to the New York Rangers at the United Center on Sunday. After bouncing back from three straight four-goal losses (including the debacle that was the Winter Classic), the Hawks had stormed back with a 4-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens, only to slink to another four-goal loss to the Blue Shirts. The Hawks started strong through the first half of the first period. Connor Bedard extended his point streak to seven games. He made a heady play to set it up, beating Mika Zibanejad to a loose puck and finding Bertuzzi at the doorstep 5 minutes and 37 seconds into the game. Bertuzzi credited Bedard for backtracking on defense, but Bertuzzi also has demonstrated a knack for being in the right place at the right time for Bedard. “Just as we play more, we know where each other are going to be and I’ve just got to find open ice and I know he’s going to make good plays,” Bertuzzi said. But for the 11th time this season, the Hawks scored an opening goal in the first period only to allow the opponent to score later in the first. “Today, it was evident the puck management” was to blame, Blackhawks interim coach Anders Sorensen said. “We were off to a good start and then our puck management was not good at all. Unacceptable. “Then we get stuck in our own zone because we’re tired and we can’t get out. … Nothing good comes out of that.” Wyatt Kaiser of the Chicago Blackhawks high-fives teammates after scoring his first career NHL goal against the New York Rangers during the second period at the United Center on Jan. 5, 2025. (Michael Reaves/Getty Images) This time it happened twice in the first period, thanks to the Hawks’ failures to break out of their zone or protect the middle. Jonny Brodzinski scored from the high slot to put the Rangers on the board with 4 minutes and 48 seconds left in the first. Later, the Rangers had the Hawks hemmed in. Craig Smith and Pat Maroon tried to break the Hawks out of their zone but passes were both intercepted. Nolan Allan erred by trying to clear a puck up the middle — straight to Will Borgen, who scored from the point with 1:38 left before intermission. “Decision-making, the turnovers and icings,” Sorensen said. “Those things hurt (against) a good faceoff team on the other side and we’ve been struggling with faceoffs.” Related Articles Chicago Blackhawks | Philipp Kurashev and Lukas Reichel squeezed out — for now — plus 3 other things we learned from the Chicago Blackhawks Chicago Blackhawks | Chicago Blackhawks snap their 5-game skid. 4 takeaways from the 4-2 win, including Colton Dach’s rookie lap. Chicago Blackhawks | Column: Chicago Blackhawks need to get back to their grind — or they’ll be grounded Chicago Blackhawks | Colton Dach will make his Chicago Blackhawks — and NHL — debut against his brother: ‘Keep it family-friendly out there’ Chicago Blackhawks | 5 takeaways from the Chicago Blackhawks’ 6-2 loss at Wrigley Field — their 5th defeat in 5 Winter Classics The Hawks’ second-period lull continued, giving up goals to Filip Chytil, Reilly Smith and Vincent Trocheck. During the Hawks’ five-game losing streak, the Hawks gave up three goals to the St. Louis Blues and Calgary Flames, and two goals to the Dallas Stars during the second periods of those games. “Just not making simple plays,” Bertuzzi said, “Shying away from our plan that we were heading into the game with and just being not smart with the puck. And it costs against a good (Rangers) team.” Kaiser’s first NHL goal closed out the second with 2 minutes left. Frank Nazar and T.J. Brodie assisted. “It’s been a while,” Kaiser said. “Lots of chances, so nice for one to finally go in.” The Hawks tried Colton Dach on Bedard’s and Bertuzzi’s line: In the second Dach replaced Ilya Mikheyev on the top line, but it didn’t provide a boost in possession or chances. The line, in fact, had a 21.4% Corsi-for in five-on-five and trailed 6-0 in scoring chances with Dach, according to Natural Stat Trick. “Just want to try to change something up, get a little spark,” Sorensen said. “Colton was skating, so try to get him with Connor and see if we can mix it up a little bit.” Here are three other observations. 1. What’s the “point” for Bedard? Bedard extended his point streak to seven games. At 19 years, 172 days, he’s the third-youngest in franchise history to reach a seven-game point streak or more, trailing only Bobby Hull (18 years, 314 days) and Eddie Olczyk (19 years, 106 days). “Any player like that, obviously they want to put points up, but he is really dedicated to the team game as well,” Sorensen said. “A lot of the reasons he’s had some success offensively is because he’s done a lot of good things defensively and being able to get more pucks that way, and been in the right spot to get pucks out of our own zone.” 2. A goalie shakeup? Perhaps not. Chicago Blackhawks goalie Arvid Söderblom makes a save during the first period against the New York Rangers on Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025, at the United Center. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty) Since Petr Mrázek returned from a groin injury on Dec. 21 in Calgary, he’s had three starts (getting pulled for Arvid Söderblom after the first period in Buffalo) with a .779 save percentage and 15 goals against. Söderblom has started four games, including Sunday, though he gave up a season-high six goals to the Rangers. “It’s performance-based for sure right now,” Sorensen said. “The way Arvid played last game, especially in that second period, it was an easy decision to go back to him. And Petr’s been great about it, and he’s ready as well.” 3. Louis Crevier showing up big. The 6-foot-8 second-year defenseman had a career-high six blocks against the Canadiens and had a neutral rating (0) through his six games leading up to Sunday. “Really good progress in his development,” said Sorensen, who coached him in Rockford. “He plays really well here in the NHL. His position is really good, his range, killing plays defensively, has been really good, and he’s getting more predictable with pucks too.”