Not only did Chris Kreider score his second game-tying goal to earn the Rangers at least one point in their shootout loss to the Wild on Saturday night, but the longest tenured Blueshirt surpassed Andy Bathgate for the fourth-most goals in franchise history in the process.
Posted up in his office in front of the opposing team’s net, Kreider got a stick on a shot from Artemi Panarin at the top of the zone to knot Saturday’s game at four-all and ultimately force overtime.
“That was huge from Chris,” Vincent Trocheck said. “He’s doing what he does best.”
Of Kreider’s team-leading eight goals this season, five have come on the power play, with a couple unfolding at crucial points in a game.
There was the go-ahead power-play goal against the Flames and the game-tying score against Winnipeg.
Kreider has also opened the scoring for the Rangers twice, against the Hurricanes and the Coyotes, as well as recorded a multi-goal game against the Sabres in the season opener with power-play and shorthanded tallies.
Kreider is now only seven goals away from tying Adam Graves for third place on the Rangers’ all-time goal-scoring list at 273.
That’s an accomplishment that likely will come this season as the Rangers prepare for just their 12th game of the campaign on Tuesday against Detroit.
“It’s impressive,” head coach Peter Laviolette said of Kreider’s franchise feat. “The New York Rangers have been around for a long time. For him to climb that ladder like that, it shows what kind of a player he is.”
The Zac Jones-Braden Schneider pairing had another tough night on Saturday, when the duo was on the ice for one goal against, outshot 10-3 and on the wrong end of a 7-1 edge in high-danger chances.
Clearing the puck after extended shifts in the defensive zone was an issue for that pair all night.
After returning goalie Louis Domingue, center Jonny Brodzinski and defenseman Connor Mackey to AHL Hartford on Sunday, the Rangers have resumed accruing crucial cap space ahead of the trade deadline on March 8.
Artemi Panarin’s 11-game point streak has tied Darren Turcotte for the second-longest run in Rangers history, behind only Rod Gilbert (14 games in 1972-73). The streak is also the third longest of Panarin’s career.
The Rangers were off on Sunday and are scheduled to return to the ice for practice on Monday at MSG Training Center.
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