It is now impossible to tell the story of New York Rangers’ playoff excellence without putting Chris Kreider into focus.
Following three straight wins against the Hurricanes in the second round of the playoffs, the Blueshirts lost a close one in Game 4 and then laid an egg at home in Game 5. For two periods in Game 6, the Rangers looked completely out of it.
Then Chris Kreider happened. A natural hat-trick in the third period lifted the Rangers out of a lifeless daze. All three goals around the front of the net. No surprise for one of the league’s best power forwards.
One can’t tell the story of the Rangers’ comeback or series without highlighting goaltender Igor Shesterkin.
The team was lackluster to begin with, but a two-goal deficit against a team that specializes in attrition meant head coach Peter Laviolette’s squad needed to take more risks. And the Russian’s brilliance in goal prevented the Hurricanes from putting the score out of reach at many moments in the second and third periods.
For posterity, though, this is Kreider’s moment. It’s a big swing from 48 hours ago when New York was near crisis. In the immediate aftermath of its worst game of the season, Kreider did not match the panic many Blueshirts fans felt.
Adam Herman @AdamZHerman
A lot of people are stomping their feet over a pretty generic quote that is objectively true. Also, Kreider has like 50000 playoff games to his name across three eras. I think he should probably earn some benefit of the doubt with regards to managing the group’s mentality. https://t.co/GMKuxQEAeJ
Hockey lo
