What a great moment this is to be a New York Rangers fan.
New York traveled to Arizona to play the Coyotes away on Saturday, March 30, and all the Rangers were achieving historic feats in various ways from scoring goals to preventing them, including players achieving significant milestones across the ice, from their goalie to the most advanced forward.
One of the goal scorers on Saturday was experienced left-winger Chris Kreider, who reached a 300th career goal in his NHL career after spending 12 seasons in New York.
With the milestone firmly established and already recorded in the Rangers’ annals, Arthur Staple of The Athletic interviewed 10 players who have assisted on the most Kreider goals for their “favorite stories of No. 20, on and off the ice.”
With “off” being the keyword, fellow Rangers winger Artemi Panarin shared his specific nickname for Kreider with Staple.
“I usually call him Horse,” Panarin told Staple. “Because I don’t have enough English, I think ‘horse’ is like, many horses. So I just call him Hor…
“He’s not happy with that.”
Jonathan Quick Passes Ryan Miller for the Most Wins by an American-Born Goalie
Not only did Chris “Horse” Kreider become a part of New York Rangers history by becoming the third player in franchise history to score 300-plus goals (per Stathead), but he was joined by many other players achieving equally, or even more significant, accomplishments.
Goaltender Jonathan Quick easily secured the proverbial “milestone cake” by becoming the winningest American-born goalie in NHL history, obtaining his 392nd win after stopping 27 shots to help New York beat Arizona 8-5 on hostile territory.
Quick surpassed Ryan Miller after matching the retired goalie’s record with a 5-2 win over the Boston Bruins on March 21. Until the end of March, Quick has appeared 25 times in the Rangers’ goal, achieving a 17-5-2 record, a .913 save percentage, and a 2.54 goals-against average.
The veteran goalie, who signed a one-year deal with the Rangers in July 2023, is currently competing at age 38 and for the 17th season in the NHL. Throughout his career, spanning 778 games to date, Quick has a 392-282-86 record with a .911 SV% and a 2.47 GAA.
Quick is also a two-time Stanley Cup winner, something he achieved with the team that initially drafted him, the Los Angeles Kings, in the 2012 and 2014 playoffs.
Alexis Lafreniere and Adam Fox Joined the Historic Rangers Party
The record-breaking didn’t end with Quick and Kreider, though.
The Rangers secured their 50th win of the season to remain at the top of the NHL standings boasting the best record across the league and a .703 points percentage. To put it in perspective, no other team has won more than 47 games this season or has a PTS% above .687.
Defenseman Adam Fox obtained two assists and reached 300 points in his career, which spans just 349 games. According to the New York Rangers Public Relations Department, Fox is “one of 13 defensemen in NHL history to reach the feat in fewer than 350 games.”
Former 2020 No. 1 pick Alexis Lafreniere enjoyed his first 5-point game in the NHL by scoring 3 goals (which also marked his first hat trick) and adding 2 assists.
“What a fantastic career for [Quick],” head coach Peter Laviolette told the press on March 30 after the game. “Lafreniere continues to play very well, and ‘Foxy’ reached a milestone, while Chris Kreider also reached a milestone.
“It was a great performance to secure a big win.”
The Rangers (50-20-4, 104 points in 74 games) still have eight games left in their schedule before they begin their pursuit of the Stanley Cup. If they maintain the top position in the NHL standings at the end of the season, the Rangers will claim the Presidents’ Trophy for the first time since they last won it in 2015.
