Kreider Nets Three in Game Six, Rangers Advance to East Finals

The meat market is open for business, folks.

Usually I’d do an in depth recap of a game and pick it apart period by period. Tonight, I can do it in much fewer words than usual.

The Rangers stunk for forty minutes. The bad habits, lack of tenacity, and poor puck management from game five carried into the two opening frames of game six.

Carolina went up 1-0 in the waning minutes of the first period, holding the Rangers to 3 shots on goal in the frame, and looked to continue the onslaught in the second.

Continue they did. Seth Jarvis reminded us who he is with an early period power play marker on the back of a Chris Kreider cross checking minor that cancelled a Rangers power play. I can’t find a clip of the penalty, but I hope Canes fans remember it, because if you complained about a soft cross check call later in the game, (looking at you Jordan Staal,) your opinion means nothing.

Canes fans might also remember a guy named Vincent Trocheck. He played at PNC Arena for a few years. He left as a free agent after losing to some team from New York in the second round. You might have recognized him when he got the Rangers on the board less than a minute after the Jarvis PPG, courtesy of an Artemi Panarin shot that number 16 would redirect on it’s way to Frederik Andersen, and it would make its way passed him.

The Trocheck line was the only bright spot for the first forty minutes of the Rangers game tonight. They were maintaining possession at even strength in a way the other Rangers forward lines could only dream of at that point.

Sebastian Aho would answer on a breakaway just before the halfway point of the game, and it would stand at 3-1 in favor of the Canes, who trailed 3-2 in the series.

I guess this is turning into a semi-typical recap, huh? Let’s get weird then.

The third period belonged to Christopher James Kreider. Boston College graduate. Trilingual human. Longest tenured Ranger.

I’m 23 years old, so probably younger than most people reading this. Chris Kreider’s debut in the playoffs is one of my earliest Rangers memories that actually make sense to me. He is the only New York Ranger who I have followed his entire career. In recent years, he has cemented a legacy as the best net front presence of the 2020s to date. Tonight, he added to that legacy.

Three third period goals in a row. All three of them scored right in Andersen’s face. The breakdowns end here. Go pull up the recap of the game on YouTube. Skip to the third period. Watch Chris do his thing.

This series did not go the way you may have expected. You might have thought the best two teams the East had to offer would exchange blows culminating in a game seven showdown. Instead, the Rangers won three games in row, albeit close ones, to open the series. Rangers fans wanted a sweep, but the logic would tell you that the Canes were bound to land a punch or two. They did just that in games four and five.

The problem with Carolina is they don’t have Vincent Trocheck anymore, who got the scoring going for the Rangers and won faceoff after faceoff. They are far from having an Igor Shesterkin, who put on a circus act in the third period to keep the Rangers on the right track. The Canes certainly don’t have a Chris Kreider, the all time leading playoff goal scorer of the franchise, and the series clinching hero.

I will have more to say as we await the finale of the other Eastern Semi-Final, but I will leave you with this-

Everything I’ve talked about regarding the Rangers this season to this point remains true. There is still room for improvement at even strength. The power play is working magic for them. Shesterkin is a freak of nature. They are never out of a game. They still aren’t playing their best hockey.

It only gets harder from here. Tomorrow presents an opportunity for the Florida Panthers to punch their ticket to the Garden for game one of the East Finals. Failure to do so would present an opportunity for the Boston Bruins to steal that ticket from their hands. Neither team scares me, and I know they don’t scare the fellas in that locker room for the Rangers.

Each challenge is an opportunity to improve, and this team strives for opportunity. Just ask Rod Brind’amour. Throw your best at them and they will come back with a new best. I’ll remind you the same way I reminded my good friend jay over text earlier today what this is all about.