By Larry Fine

Chicago improved to 30-21-7, while the Eastern Conference-leading Rangers dropped to 37-14-5 as New York's four-game winning streak came to an end.

New York gave ace goalie Henrik Lundqvist a night off after his 42-shot shutout over Boston on Tuesday, and Martin Biron was unable to improve on his 10-2-1 record as the Swede's backup.

The Blackhawks had notched six straight losses on their current road trip but erupted with a furious first-period assault launched by a penalty shot goal from Jonathan Toews after barely one minute of play.

Chicago was awarded the penalty after Dan Girardi covered up a loose rebound off a Toews blast that trickled in front of the net.

One minute later Marian Hossa made a perfect cross to Nick Leddy, who one-timed it past Biron to make it 2-0.

The Blackhawks kept up their frenetic pace when Toews hit Patrick Sharp two minutes later for a breakaway chance that the right-winger cashed in for a 3-0 bulge.

Hossa then took his turn on a breakaway, beating Biron for Chicago's fourth goal from seven shots for a 4-0 lead with less than 10 minutes played.

The Rangers got on the board in the second period on Marc Staal's first goal of the season and pulled within 4-2 on Ryan McDonagh's deflection with 4:45 left in the game.

Blackhawks netminder Corey Crawford saved 24 shots on goal and turned away seven New York power plays.

The Eastern Conference-leading Rangers dropped to 37-14-5 and remained one point behind the Western-leading Detroit Red Wings for most points in the league.

(Reporting by Larry Fine; Editing by Ian Ransom)