Chris Kreider furthers Rangers legacy with historic playoff performance

On Thursday night, Chris Kreider's name was mentioned alongside Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier. And while he will never be in their class when it comes to career achievements, Kreider is establishing a New York Rangers legacy of his own.

Trailing 3-1 in the third period with a Game 7 looming, it was none other than Kreider, the longest-tendered member of the Rangers, who put his team on his back, carrying New York to a 5-3 win and a trip to the Eastern Conference Finals. Kreider recorded a natural hat trick by scoring three consecutive goals, all in the third period. 

Kreider became just the third player in the history of the New York Rangers — an "Original 6" NHL franchise founded in 1926 — to score three goals in a single playoff period. The other two are Gretzky and Messier, the latter of which did it over the rival New Jersey Devils in the famous "Guarantee Game" in the 1994 Eastern Conference Finals. 

A loss in Game 6 would've been devastating for New York. A Game 7 at Madison Square Garden may have still favored the Rangers, but a loss would've made three straight This was after opening the series with a commanding 3-0 lead. The Hurricanes would've had the opportunity to become only the fifth NHL team to successfully come back from an 0-3 series deficit. And that was minutes away from being the conversation until Kreider took over.  

As the only Ranger still remaining from the 2014 Eastern Conference champion team, it was fitting Kreider ended up being the hero during a postseason some believe offers New York its best chance to win the franchise's first Stanley Cup since Messier etched his name in hockey lore in 1994. 

Back in 2014, Kreider was young and mostly viewed as a role player on the second line. But Kreider eventually became a household name to New York fans in that playoff run. He scored seven goals in 19 games after totaling 46 points during that regular season.

Fast forward to the present day, and Kreider already has seven goals in 10 games. He's also coming off scoring 39 goals as part of a 75-point season. And the 2023-2024 season was far from an outlier for Kreider. The 33-year-old is actually on the heels of the three best individual seasons of his career.   

During the 2021-2022 campaign, Kreider netted 52 goals, a big jump from his previous single-season high of 28. As a response to some trying to label that season a fluke at the time, Kreider followed that year up with 75 goals in his next two seasons combined. Kreider currently sits at 305 career goals, all scored while representing one team and one city.   

Chris Kreider will never be enshrined in the Hockey Hall of Fame. Fans outside of New York may even eventually forget about him. But no matter what happens throughout the rest of his career, Kreider's name is forever etched in the fabric of a historic franchise, and he will be someone Rangers fans always appreciate as one of their great captains.