New York Rangers forward Chris Kreider, ‘a special player,’ scored his 50th goal of the season in a home loss

NEWYORK — Rangers front Chris Kreider scored his 50th goal of the season on Tuesday night, becoming only the fourth player in team history to do so.

Kreider, in his 10th season in the NHL, scored with the goalkeeper Igor Shesterkin pull in the previous 4-2 loss Hurricane Carolina in the battle of the top two teams in the Metropolitan Division.

Kreider, who plays in New York’s upline and is a fixture in front of the grid in the power game, is in a good position to set the franchise’s all-time record. Jaromir Jagra scored 54 goals as Ranger during the 2005-06 season.

For now, however, the 30-year-old Kreider is tied with Vic Hadfield, who scored 50 goals in 1971-72, and is two goals away from second and second place. Adam Graveswho finished with 52 in 1993-94, the same season the Rangers last won the Stanley Cup.

“He’s an exceptional player. He’s in the right position, going into the front area where nobody’s there. He does it too well,” said Hadfield, who has scored 262 goals for Rangers and There is a retired number 11 shirt hanging from Madison that says Garden Square Truss. “No one is happier than me. It couldn’t have happened to a more beautiful child.”

New York coach Gerard Gallant concurs.

“I think it’s great that he’s scored 50 goals. It’s amazing and it’s fun to see,” he said. “It was a great feat and he had a great season for us, and it sucks that we had to lose. But he took his hat off.”

Rangers, long known for elaborate celebrations after big occasions, didn’t have much time to praise Kreider as his goal cut New York’s deficit to just one of those the last moment of an important match.

“That’s something that we can talk about another day,” Kreider said after the game. “It’s tough after a game like that. We were in it, we did a lot of good things. I think this would make more sense if we found a way to win the game. “

However, with Shesterkin pulled again, Carolina Sebastian Aho bury your foot in the empty net to secure the victory. The Hurricanes, with 104 points, are currently four points ahead of Rangers, and both clubs have eight games left.

Andrei Svechnikov, Seth Jarvis and Jordan Staal also scored for the Hurricanes, and Aho added two more assists. K’Andre Miller opened the scoring for Rangers, with their seventh goal of the season.

Kreider, Rangers’ first choice in 2009, delivered one of the more surprising seasons you’ll see from a power forward who signed one of the big money deals that have been questioned. than in recent memory. With a salary of $6.5 million and a career that has never scored more than 28 goals in any given season, the Massachusetts native certainly has something to prove heading into this season.

But not many in the organization can envision 50 goals, 25 of which are due to power play and even three short-handed goals.

Later, when post-game media was available, Kreider was asked if he’d ever dreamed of hitting 50.

“I dream of lifting the Stanley Cup,” he said.

Well, Rangers are well on their way to gaining at least a chance later this year.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.