New York Rangers: Derek Stepan’s Top Goals of 2014-15
Dec 27, 2014; New York, NY, USA; New York Rangers center Derek Stepan (21) celebrates after scoring his third goal of the game against the New Jersey Devils during the third period at Madison Square Garden.The Rangers won 3-1. Mandatory Credit: Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports
New York Rangers center, Derek Stepan, scored a few pretty goals over the past year as he took home 16 goals over 68 games in the regular season and picked up five more in the Playoffs. However, the 25-year-old is going to have to set the bar even higher this time around, especially after signing a massive six-year, $39 million contract.
Hopefully we’ll see a lot more of what we’ve seen since last October. And in case you forgot, here’s what Stepan has to bring to the table.
#5 – The Chemistry
Stepan and Chris Kreider go together like peanut butter and jelly, like milk and cookies, like Larry and dancing. They just seem to be something greater and more wonderful together than if they were to be separate things on their own and this gorgeous goal is certainly a testament to that.
Against the New York Islanders, things were looking bleak as the Rangers were down 3-5 almost halfway through the third period. That was until Stepan scored this beauty of a goal. Closing in on the Isles’ goal line, Stepan caught a no-look-pass from Kreider and managed to beat Jaroslav Halak, far side.
His goal gave the Rangers a chance to get back in the game and miraculously they did as the Blueshirts went on to win, 6-5.
#4 – From Behind the Net
In Game Two against the Tampa Bay Lightning (New York leading the series 1-0), the Rangers were down 3-1 but had a chance to shorten the gap with a man-advantage.
After Dan Boyle‘s slapshot from near the blue line didn’t quite cut through traffic, Step attempted to shovel in the rebound. That didn’t work out either. Finding himself behind the net with the puck, he saw an opportunity to bank a shot off of Braydon Coburn‘s leg. He took the chance and hey what do you know, it paid off as the Rangers gained another point on the board.
Unfortunately that would be the last goal New York would see in that game as Tampa won, 6-2.
#3 – The Game Changer
There’s really two goals here, but trust me they’re both worth this spot on this list.
Down 3-2 to the Columbus Blue Jackets, with mere seconds left on the clock at Madison Square Garden, it looked as though this game was over for the Blueshirts.
Suddenly, the perfect opportunity to change it all came to Stepan, undetected just left of the net. And as we’ve seen before, Stepan is absolutely deadly in this area.
After a short little pass from Kreider in front, Stepan flicked the puck up into the net behind goalie, Sergei Bobrovsky, sending the game to overtime. BUT, Stepan wasn’t done just yet. He went on to bury the OT game winner, again just left of the net. Hey, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!
# 2 – The Hat Trick
Okay, I know I hit you with two goals in the last slide but now I have to hit you with these next three. They are that good, simply because they all happened in a single game.
Up against the New Jersey Devils, Stepan went on a breakaway to open up Cory Schneider and slipped the puck into the net to make it 1-0, Rangers. Then Step deflected a shot from Martin St. Louis, bringing the score up to 2-0. As the final minutes ticked by, Stepan sank an empty netter from the neutral zone to complete a hat trick. New York won this game, 3-1.
Gotta love a hat trick at the Garden.
#1 – Game Seven, Overtime
This goal blows all of the other goals on this list out of the water. Who could forget Game Seven, overtime in the series against the Washington Capitals?
The stakes were outrageously high as the Eastern Conference Final was just a single goal away. To add to the pressure, Caps’ Captain, Alex Ovechkin, guaranteed that his team would take home the W that night.
Stepan must’ve had other plans in mind, however, as the puck found him – guess where – yep, left of the net. The rest was history.
What a moment. Hands down the best and the most memorable goal last year by Stepan.
That’s all for this top goals list. Make sure to check out our other top goals for many of the other New York Rangers.
Next: Rick Nash's Top Five Goals of 2014-15
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