Top 10 Chris Kreider moments with Rangers before trade to Ducks
Chris Kreider’s tenure with the New York Rangers ended Thursday when the only NHL team he’d ever played for traded him to the Anaheim Ducks for 20-year-old center prospect Carey Terrance and an exchange of picks in the 2025 NHL Draft.
Kreider was the longest-tenured player on the Rangers, who selected him in the first round (No. 19) of the 2009 draft. He made his NHL debut in Game 3 of New York’s first-round playoff series against the Ottawa Senators on April 16, 2012, a few weeks after helping Boston College win the NCAA National Championship. Kreider set an NHL record by scoring five playoff goals during the Rangers’ run to the Eastern Conference Final before getting the first of his 326 regular-season goals against the New Jersey Devils on Feb. 5, 2013
The 34-year-old leaves as the No. 3 goal-scorer in Rangers history, trailing only Hockey Hall of Famers Rod Gilbert (406) and Jean Ratelle (336). He’s also tied with Camille Henry for the franchise record with 116 power-play goals.
Kreider’s 123 playoff games are most among Rangers position players. He is first in goals (48) and third in points (76). He’s also scored 16 goals in 30 games in which the Rangers faced elimination, tying him with Mark Messier for the most in NHL history.
Kreider became the fourth player in Rangers history to reach the 50-goal mark when he scored 52 in 2021-22, joining Jaromir Jagr (54 in 2005-06), Adam Graves (52 in 1993-94) and Vic Hadfield (50 in 1971-72).
Here’s a look at 10 of the most memorable goals during Kreider’s tenure with the Rangers.
May 20, 2024
The Rangers were on their way to being forced to play a Game 7 in their Eastern Conference Second Round series against the Carolina Hurricanes until Kreider had the period of a lifetime. With his team entering the third period of Game 6 down 3-1 on the road, Kreider scored three consecutive goals in a span of 8:58 to put the Rangers ahead to stay. It was the 16th playoff hat trick in Rangers history, the third natural hat trick and the second in which all three goals were scored in the third period, joining Messier’s famous “Guarantee Game” against the New Jersey Devils in 1994.
April 23, 2012
Kreider’s first NHL goal came a week after his debut, and it couldn’t have happened at a better time. The rookie forward took a pass from Derek Stepan and beat Senators goaltender Craig Anderson at 19:19 of the second period in Game 6 of their Eastern Conference Quarterfinal series. The goal put the Rangers ahead 3-1 and stood as the game-winner when Ottawa scored with 39 seconds remaining in the third period. The 3-2 win tied the best-of-7 series, and the Rangers won 2-1 in Game 7 back at the Garden three nights later to advance.
March 30, 2024
It took Kreider two tries to officially score his 300th NHL goal during the Rangers’ 8-5 win against the Arizona Coyotes at Mullet Arena. It looked like he had reached the milestone at 16:38 of the second period when he banged home a rebound. He was handed the puck as a memento, only to have the goal overturned after a challenge when Jack Roslovic was ruled to have interfered with Arizona goalie Karel Vejmelka. But he deflected a Ryan Lindgren shot into the net at 5:45 of the third period — and this one counted, making him the third player to score 300 goals as a Ranger.
Feb. 5, 2013
The lockout that reduced the 2012-13 season to 47 games meant that Kreider spent three months with the AHL Connecticut Whale before making his regular-season debut with the Rangers on Jan. 19, 2013. He scored his first regular-season goal four games later against the New Jersey Devils. You can’t say he did it against a chump: Goal No. 1 came at 6:28 of the third period against Martin Brodeur, the winningest goaltender in NHL history. It was the Rangers’ lone goal in a 3-1 loss at Prudential Center.
April 12, 2022
Kreider had never scored more than 28 goals in a season, so to say his performance in 2021-22 was surprising would be putting it mildly. He became the fourth player in Rangers history to reach the 50-goal mark, and the first homegrown player in team history to do so, when he scored a sixth-attacker goal against the Hurricanes at Madison Square Garden. The only disappointment for Rangers fans that night was that it came in a 4-2 loss.
May 8, 2015
The Rangers entered their first-round playoff series against the Washington Capitals having won the Presidents’ Trophy as regular-season champions. But they were less than two minutes away from seeing their season end way too early when Kreider stepped up. With the Capitals leading 3-1 in the series and 1-0 in Game 5, Henrik Lundqvist was on his way to the bench for an extra attacker when Kreider took a pass from Stepan and let fly from the top of the left circle. The shot caught the far corner with 1:41 remaining in regulation, triggering an eruption at Madison Square Garden. The Rangers went on to win the game 2-1 on Ryan McDonagh’s overtime goal, then won Games 6 and 7 to advance.
April 18, 2023
Kreider earned two lines in the Rangers’ history book on the same night, one with each of the two power-play goals he scored in a 5-1 road win against the Devils in the opener of their Eastern Conference First Round series. Kreider’s first goal was the 35th playoff tally of his career, breaking a tie with Rod Gilbert for the most in Rangers history. The second, at 11:07 of the third period, was the 14th on the power play, passing Adam Graves for No. 1 in that category (he leaves with a team-record 19). Kreider was voted the game’s First Star in a 5-1 win.
Nov. 30, 2013
Coach John Tortorella didn’t believe in Kreider and didn’t use him much in the 2012-13 season. But ‘Torts’ got the axe in the summer of 2013, only to resurface behind the bench of the Vancouver Canucks for the 2013-14 season. Kreider gave Torts a look at what he was missing when the Canucks made their lone trip of the season to Madison Square Garden by scoring three times for his first NHL hat trick in the Rangers’ 5-1 win. Kreider scored twice in the first period before completing his big day with a goal midway through the third.
April 17, 2025
As it turned out, the Rangers’ season-ending 4-0 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Madison Square Garden turned out to be Kreider’s swan song (Duck call?) in New York. But he went out with a bang, scoring his 22nd goal of a disappointing season and adding an assist, earning the Third Star of the game.
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