Rangers Earn 3 Big Milestones in Big Arizona Win
Jonathan Quick snagged the all-time lead in most wins by a U.S.-born goaltender; Chris Kreider finally notched career goal no. 300, and Alexis Lafrenière collected his first career NHL hat trick in an 8-5 offensive explosion by the Blueshirts
The New York Rangers continued their flaming hot 2023/24 campaign, post-playoff berth clinch with an 8-5 victory over the Arizona Coyotes last Saturday night. It was their 5th straight win (until last night's home loss against Pittsburgh, giving them a 7-2-0 record in their last 10 games, (now 7-3-0), but that wasn't the only notable tidbit in the 8-goal shelling.
Longtime NHL netminder Jonathan Quick became the winningest American-born goaltender, surpassing the likes of Ryan Miller, a veteran of the Sabres, Blues, Canucks, and Ducks, as well as fellow Buffalo legend Dominik Hasek and the Red Wings' Mike Vernon. With the win by Quick, the Rangers also became the 1st team to 50 wins this season, 3 ahead of Dallas, their main competitor for the regular season President's Trophy, awarded to the squad with the best regular season record. As of last night's results, the Rangers still maintain a slim lead over the Stars, leading by a single point with 7 games left in the regular season for both clubs.
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Chris Kreider also made an impact for the Rangers, scoring his 300th career goal after redeeming himself when his 1st attempt was disallowed. Alexis Lafrenière then bagged his 1st career NHL hat trick, which came before Quick's holdout for win number 392. He also combined that with a pair of assists for an impressive 5 point game. Heck, he probably could've made it 6 the way he was playing! Overall, quite a productive night for the Rangers even with a mediocre team like Arizona at times tying the game but never quite leading. The Blueshirts led wire to wire in this one.
The Rangers still sit atop the Metro Division coming off a 5-2 home loss to the Penguins on Monday, which ended their 5-game win streak but still have a 3-point lead over Carolina with a duel against crosstown rival New Jersey tomorrow evening at 7 pm. They've won 3 of the 4 meetings this season, the last one in question tomorrow, and would definitely like to finish off the sweep at home. After that, they head to Detroit on the 5th, then back home at the Garden to face Montreal on the 7th, a bus ride to Uniondale to clash with the Islanders on the 9th, then 3 more home games on the 11th, 13th, and 15th against Philadelphia, the Islanders one more time and Ottawa to close out their regular season before their Stanley Cup quest begins on April 20.