Chris Kreider scores, Rangers win 4-0 over Lightning to close miserable season
If this was Chris Kreider’s final game with the New York Rangers, he went out on a high note Thursday night at Madison Square Garden. Kreider had a goal and an assist to help the Rangers close out this massively disappointing season with a 4-0 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Kreider scored his 326th goal with the Rangers early in the third period to put them up 2-0. He later fittingly assisted on his good buddy Mika Zibanejad’s second goal of the night.
What happens next is anyone’s guess. General manager Chris Drury looked to trade Kreider earlier in the season and very likely could revisit those efforts in the offseason, when much change is expected with the roster.
Kreider has two years remaining on his contract at $6.5 million per. If this was indeed his final game with the Rangers, he will exit as their third leading goal scorer all-time, behind Rod Gilbert (406) and Jean Ratelle (336).
It also could’ve been Peter Laviolette’s final game as Rangers coach. And there are other players who may not be back next season, after the Rangers (39-36-7) missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time in four seasons.
But the Rangers did put their best foot forward after they were eliminated from playoff contention last weekend. They defeated the Florida Panthers 5-3 on Monday and then shut out the playoff-bound Lightning on Thursday.
Igor Shesterkin made 27 saves for his sixth shutout of the season and 21st of his NHL career. Zibanejad had three points (two goals, one assist) and Vincent Trocheck scored New York’s other goal.
Jonas Johansson finished with 20 saves for the Lightning, who will face the Panthers in the first-round of the playoffs.
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New York Rangers 4 – Tampa Bay Lightning 0
The Lightning had more of the puck. more of the shots and more of the scoring chances over the first two periods. But the Rangers had the only goal and carried a 1-0 lead into the third period.
Trocheck scored it, short-handed, off a give and go with J.T. Miller at 1:02 of the second period. It was New York’s League-leading 18th shorty of the season, and Trocheck’s team-best sixth short-handed goal. He finished the season strong with four goals in the final five games, and ended with 26, his most in three seasons with the Rangers.
Other than that, there wasn’t a whole lot going on offensively for the Rangers, who had two shots on goal in the first period before turning it up with 11 in the second. There was another good short-handed opportunity late in the period by Zac Jones. And then in the final minute of the second, Brennan Othmann set up Will Cuylle, the trailer on a 3-on-2 rush, for a clean look that was stopped by Johansson.
At the other end of the ice, Shesterkin was busier, but never under heavy duress. He stopped all 20 shots he faced through 40 minutes.
But the Lightning couldn’t turn those extra shots into goals, though Gage Goncalves came close when he wired a shot of the post 13:20 into the first period. The Lightning had an expected goals share of 62.18 percent, per Natural Stat Trick, but faced a one-goal deficit.
That quickly became a two-goal deficit when Kreider scored at 4:02 of the third period. His first shot from the slot was blocked, but he pounced on the loose puck and wired a shot into the top right corner to make it 2-0.
Cuylle picked up the secondary assist and then picked up the puck, retrieving it for Kreider, perhaps sensing that this was going to be his final goal with the Rangers.
Though it’s still in question if this was Kreider’s final game with the Rangers, everyone knew it was Sam Rosen’s finale with the Rangers, after 40 years behind the mic as the team’s broadcaster on MSG Network.
As such, when Rosen was pictured on the jumbotron shortly after Kreider’s goal, the fans rose as one for an extended standing ovation for the beloved broadcaster. During warmups, each Rangers player wore a No. 40 jersey with Rosen’s name on the back.
Zibanejad put an exclamation point on the proceedings, scoring his 19th and 20th goals before time ran out on the season. He won a face-off in the right circle, drifted over into the left circle and buried a one-timer off a K’Andre Miller feed at 12:50. Then he redirected a centering pass from Kreider at 16:24 to make it 4-0.
It’s the eighth straight 20-goal season for Zibanejad, and the 10th of his career.
There was no pushback from the Lightning, who appeared far more interested in starting the playoffs than rallying in this game. All that was left was the final buzzer, Rosen’s grand farewell and the Rangers handing over their game jerseys to lucky fans in a the end-of-season Garden tradition.
What’s next is anyone’s guess. Next season begins now.
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