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If you had to pick who was the most pleasantly surprising player this year, who would you pick? Odds are for a lot of people, Chris Kreider would be their choice. Sure, Kreider hasn’t come out of nowhere. He’s been a solid contributor with the Rangers for years, recording at least 20 goals in six of his previous seven campaigns. But before this season his career-high in goals was 28. On Tuesday, he scored his 50th marker of 2021-22.
What he’s managed to do this season has been nothing short of remarkable. Keep in mind he’s 30-years-old – he’ll turn 31 on April 30 – so for him to find another level to his game at this point of his career is remarkable. He’s just the eighth player in NHL history to reach the 50-goal milestone for the first time in his 10th season of later, per The Journal News.
Ultimately, Kreider couldn’t save the Rangers on Tuesday, who suffered a 4-2 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes, but Kreider’s efforts are a big part of the reason the Rangers will be going to the playoffs this season. Not only has he been prolific, but he’s also come through at key times, providing the Rangers with 10 game-winning goals.
The Rangers will be counting on him too in the playoffs, but before that he has eight more regular season games to pad out his goal scoring total.
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ST. LOUIS 4 BOSTON 2
Vladimir Tarasenko scored a pair of goals, including the game winner. He has 28 goals and 67 points in 66 contests.
David Perron contributed a goal and an assist for St. Louis. That gives him 24 markers and 52 points in 59 games.
Ville Husso stopped 39 of 41 Bruins shots. He’s now won his last seven starts.
Patrice Bergeron scored a goal for Boston. It was his 20th goal and 56th point in 65 games.
Jeremy Swayman turned aside 26 of 30 shots last night. He dropped to 20-11-3 with a 2.34 GAA and .916 save percentage in 35 games.
BUFFALO 5 TORONTO 2
Owen Power made his NHL debut tonight. Though he didn’t record a point, he did have a plus-two rating, a hit, and a blocked shot in 19:50 minutes of ice time to help the Sabres to victory.
Jeff Skinner scored the game-winning goal. He’s up to 31 goals and 55 points in 73 games.
Rasmus Asplund and Rasmus Dahlin each had a goal and an assist for the Sabres. Tage Thompson and Kyle Okposo accounted for Buffalo’s other two goals.
Craig Anderson stopped 24 of 26 shots last night. He had surrendered a combined nine goals in his previous two games and had lost both of those contests.
At the other end of the ice, Erik Kallgren saved 23 of 27 shots. He’s 5-3-1 with a 2.93 GAA and .899 save percentage in 10 games.
Morgan Rielly assisted on both of Toronto’s goals. He has 10 goals and 63 points in 73 games.
FLORIDA 3 ANAHEIM 2 (OT)
Jonathan Huberdeau scored the game-winning goal. He had 28 goals and 105 points in 73 contests.
Florida’s other two goals were scored by Anthony Duclair. That gives him 30 markers and 54 points in 65 games.
Sergei Bobrovsky turned aside 22 of 24 shots on Tuesday. He has a 35-6-3 record, 2.70 GAA, and .911 save percentage in 48 starts.
Derek Grant contributed a goal and an assist for Anaheim. He’s up to 14 goals and 26 points in 67 games.
John Gibson kicked out 52 of Panthers shots. He faced a staggering 20 shots in the second period. He actually held Florida to just a goal over that 20-minute span, though of course he ultimately still fell short of the victory.
CAROLINA 4 NY RANGERS 2
Sebastian Aho scored a goal and registered two assists for the Hurricanes. That gives him 34 goals and 75 points in 71 games.
Seth Jarvis and Andrei Svechnikov each had a goal and an assist for Carolina. Jordan Staal provided the game-winning goal.
Frederik Andersen saved 28 of 30 Rangers shots. He’s surrendered just two goals in each of his last three starts.
Chris Kreider managed to score on Andersen. With that, Kreider has reached the 50-goal milestone for the first time.
Igor Shesterkin stopped 31 of 34 Hurricanes shots. He surrendered two goals on seven shots in the third period. Carolina scored one more goal during that period on an empty net.
WASHINGTON 9 PHILADELPHIA 2
Lars Eller netted a pair of goals for Washington. That gives him 12 goals and 27 points in 63 games.
Alex Ovechkin, Garnet Hathaway, Johan Larsson, Conor Sheary, and Matt Irwin each had a goal and an assist for Washington. The Capitals’ other two goals were scored by Martin Fehervary and T.J. Oshie.
As bad as that all sounds for the Flyers, it’s worse. Cam Atkinson and Carter Hart both sustained lower-body injuries. Hart stopped seven of 10 shots before leaving the contest. Jones stepped in and saved 21 of 27 shots.
James van Riemsdyk scored both of the Flyers’ goals. He has 20 goals and 33 points in 73 contests.
Ilya Samsonov saved 19 of 21 shots last night. He has a 22-9-4 record, 2.93 GAA, and .899 save percentage in 39 contests.
NY ISLANDERS 5 PITTSBURGH 4 (SO)
Casey DeSmith stopped 33 of 37 shots in regulation time. He allowed one goal in three shootout rounds, which in this case was enough to cost him the win.
Ilya Sorokin kicked out 43 of 47 shots prior to the shootout. He was then perfect in all three rounds of the skill competition to collect the win.
Jake Guentzel scored two goals and registered an assist for Pittsburgh. He’s up to 35 goals and 74 points in 69 games.
Zach Parise scored a power-play goal and a shorthanded goal for the Islanders. That gives him 13 goals and 31 points in 72 games.
Josh Bailey contributed the Islanders’ other two goals in regulation time. He has 10 goals and 36 points in 64 contests.
OTTAWA 4 DETROIT 1
Tim Stutzle came up big for the Senators, scoring two goals and registered an assist. He’s contributed 17 goals and 47 points in 70 games.
Austin Watson had a goal and an assist for Ottawa. That gives him eight goals and 12 points in 58 contests.
Anton Forsberg stopped 24 of 25 Red Wings shots. He’s 18-16-3 with a 2.75 GAA and .917 save percentage in 40 games.
The Red Wings’ lone goal was scored by Tyler Bertuzzi. It was his 27th goal and 55th point in 60 contests.
Thomas Greiss saved 28 of 30 shots last night. The Senators final two goals were scored on an empty net.
MINNESOTA 5 EDMONTON 1
Kevin Fiala scored a pair of goals, including the game winner. He has 26 goals and 65 points in 72 games.
Ryan Hartman also had two goals for the Wild. He’s up to 29 goals and 56 points in 72 contests.
Cam Talbot turned aside 27 of 28 Oilers shots. He had a shutout going into the third period and the only goal he surrendered was scored on an Edmonton power play.
Leon Draisaitl provided the Oilers with that power-play goal. It was his 51st goal and 102nd point in 73 games.
Mikko Koskinen stopped 18 of 23 shots last night. Most of the damage came in the second period when he allowed three goals on 10 shots.
NASHVILLE 1 SAN JOSE 0 (OT)
Juuse Saros won the goaltender battle, though he had the lighter workload of the two netminders. He stopped 25 shots and never faced more than nine in a single period.
Meanwhile, Kaapo Kahkonen turned aside 40 of 41 shots. In spite of his strong showing, he’s still searching for his first win since Feb. 20.
Ryan Johansen scored the game’s only goal. It was his 23rd marker and 57th point in 70 games.
Mattias Ekholm and Filip Forsberg each assisted on Johansen’s marker. Forsberg has 38 goals and 72 points in 60 contests.
Matt Nieto fired a team-high four shots against San Jose. He also blocked a shot in 15:48 minutes of ice time.
LOS ANGELES 5 CHICAGO 2
Blake Lizotte scored two goals, including the game winner. He has 10 markers and 21 points in 63 games.
Phillip Danault scored a goal and registered an assist for the Kings. That gives him 22 goals and 46 points in 73 contests.
Jonathan Quick turned aside 18 of 20 shots last night. He had an 18-13-9 record, 2.65 GAA, and .908 save percentage in 40 starts.
Chicago’s Taylor Raddysh had a goal and an assist. He’s up to eight goals and 19 points in 65 games.
Collin Delia stopped 31 of 35 Kings shots. He dropped to 1-3-0 with a 3.93 GAA and .898 save percentage in six games.
CALGARY 5 SEATTLE 3
Matthew Tkachuk led the Flames to victory with a hat trick. He has 37 goals and 72 points in 73 games.
Johnny Gaudreau assisted on two of the Flames’ five goals. That gives him 34 goals and 101 points in 73 contests. This is the first time in his career that he’s reached the 100-point milestone.
Although this contest went Calgary’s way, the Flames were down 3-1 through 40 minutes. Jacob Markstrom got the start and allowed three goals on 15 shots. Dan Vladar stepped in for the third frmae and stopped seven shots the rest of the way to do his part in the comeback victory.
At the other end of the ice, Chris Driedger saved 26 of 30 shots. He has a 7-12-1 record, 3.10 GAA, and .898 save percentage in 23 games.
Ryan Donato scored a goal for the Kraken. He has 15 goals and 28 points in 65 contests.
DALLAS 1 TAMPA BAY 0
Scott Wedgewood stopped 25 shot to earn the shutout over Tampa Bay. It was his first perfect game of the season and the fifth of his career.
Brayden Point had a team-high four shots against Wedgewood. He was also credited with two hits in 18:03 minutes of ice time.
Roope Hintz scored the games’ only goal. It was his 32nd marker and 62nd point in 71 games.
Joe Pavelski and Jason Robertson each registered an assist. In Pavelski’s case, he’s up to 27 goals and 73 points in 73 contests.
Andrei Vasilevskiy saved 28 of 29 shots on Tuesday. He’s 35-17-5 with a 2.43 GAA and .918 save percentage in 57 games.
VANCOUVER 5 VEGAS 4 (OT)
The Golden Knights were down 4-2 through 40 minutes, but Shea Theodore at least allowed Vegas to walk away with a point. He scored two gaols in the third period, bringing him up to 13 markers and 44 points in 70 contests.
Vancouver still won though thanks to an overtime goal from Quinn Hughes. Hughes also registered an assist, giving him six goals and 55 points in 68 games.
Elias Pettersson had a goal and two assists for the Canucks. He’s up to 26 goals and 59 points in 72 contests.
Thatcher Demko stopped 41 of 45 Golden Knights shots. It wasn’t an ideal game for him, but he still extended his winning streak to three games.
At the other end of the ice, Robin Lehner saved 22 of 27 shots. That’s the second time in the span of three games that Lehner has surrendered at least five goals.
NEW JERSEY 6 ARIZONA 2
Yegor Sharangovich scored two goals and registered an assist for the Devils. That gives him 22 goals and 43 points in 67 contests.
Nico Hischier assisted on three of New Jersey’s six goals. He has 20 goals and 57 points in 64 games.
Nico Daws stopped 19 of 21 shots on Tuesday. One of the two goals he surrendered was scored during an Arizona power play.
Nick Schmaltz scored a goal and registered an assist for the Coyotes. He has 23 goals and 52 points in 54 games.
Karel Vejmelka kicked out 32 of 38 Devils shots. That’s the second straight start where he allowed six goals.
