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New York Rangers: Who Will Light the Lamp First

By Connor Orchard

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The topic of “who will score the first goal” is always a fun conversation to have between friends. It allows people to discuss their favorite players, and who they think will light the lamp first. But who will strike first for the New York Rangers this year?

Last season it was Rick Nash, who got the Rangers season underway with the game opening goal against the St. Louis Blues. The season before that it was Marc Staal who scored a goal to tie the game against the old Phoenix Coyotes. So as far as patterns go, there isn’t really one to go by.

So who do I think will open the scoring for the Rangers?

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    • Kevin Hayes

    The dude from Boston is my choice, and I don’t think it should be a surprising one either.

    Hayes is known to score vital goals and had a brilliant first season with the Rangers last year. The 23-year-old was arguably one of the best rookies in the whole of the NHL last year. He’s a player who can skate well, use his body to fend off other players and can certainly score some fantastic goals.

    If you want to, you can see Hayes’ Top Five Goals Of The Year here.

    Runner-Up #1: Chris Kreider

    If it isn’t Hayes who opens the scoring for the Rangers, I have a hunch that it would be Kreider.

    There aren’t many things that this guy can’t do. His speed is incredible and the way he can chase after a puck makes me question if he’s even human or not. Not only can he skate, but he can snipe the puck well and can make goalies want to turn around and run the other way when they see him coming at them with speed.

    You can check out Kreider’s Top 5 Goals Of The Year from the 2014-15 season here.

    Runner-Up #2: Rick Nash

    This just seems like an obvious one. After the incredible regular season that Nash had last year, it seems impossible to not include him in a possibility of getting on the board first.

    Nash could easily improve upon last season this year, and we could definitely see him pass the 50 goal mark. If he does everything he did last year and just uses his body more, there’s absolutely no reason as to why he can’t replicate last year’s tally.

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    Whether you think he should be traded or not, for me, he has to stay no questions asked. He was an absolute machine in the regular season last year, and although he never replicates that in the playoffs, who’s to say that if he has another brilliant regular season this year, and gets a confidence boost from landing that 50+ goal mark, that he won’t go on to succeed in the playoffs?

    You can find Nash’s Top 5 Goals Of The Year here.

    Runner-Up #3: Ryan McDonagh / Keith Yandle

    This one was a tough one. I think if a defenseman was to open the scoring this year for the Rangers, then it would be either McDonagh or Yandle. They can both score goals, can both pick out a pass and are absolutely vital to the power play for the Rangers.

    If Yandle replicates his Playoff form from last year, he could easily become the top point scoring defender on the Rangers team this year. He can pick out a pass, and his partnership with McDonagh on the power play is one that could use improvement, but it is also one that works.

    And with the changes in lines this year, we could be seeing some changes for the power play as well. So maybe, just maybe, we may see a Rangers power play that can actually score goals. A man can dream, right?

    So what do you think? Who do you think will get the New York Rangers season underway this year?

    Next: New York Rangers Daily Dose: Which Free Agent To Sign

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