Young Guns Get It Done For The Rangers

Young guns Chris Kreider and Derek Stepan carried the Rangers last night, and might just be the spark plug this team needed. 

As the Rangers faced one of the most important games in their recent history, I'm sure they were expecting some of their veterans to step up in order to provide the team's inspiration and a point total. Veteran Brad Richards stepped up to the challenge, but it was truly the play of NHL infant Chris Kreider and the 2nd year Derek Stepan who carried the Rangers back to the Garden.

After falling down 1-0 early in the first period, the Rangers looked dead in the water. They were generating no offense and the Senators were buzzing behind their raucous crowd. But the Rangers settled down forced some penalties and turned the momentum around though they were still heading into the dressing room trailing by one. Midway through the second period Richards connected with Stepan in front of the net on a beautiful pass that Richards eventually stuffed away after a few whacks. Later in the period on a 5-on-3 power play, Stepan returned the favor by hitting Richards who launched a bomb right underneath Craig Anderson's arm. About a minute later Stepan once again connected on another beautiful pass to Chris Kreider this time who calmly put it past Anderson to give the Rangers what would be the game winning goal.

Last night's game signaled good things to come for the Rangers. One, they get to head back to MSG with the momentum in an epic Game 7. Two, they might have found a gem in Chris Kreider for this playoff run and three, if all else fails their future is seriously bright. But New York isn't thinking about the future, they're thinking about the present. Now that they've breathed life back into their playoff hopes, the Rangers should be ready to step on the Senators' throat in Game 7.

Maybe last night was indication of how the Rangers are going to win going forward. They're always going to have to get some help from Lundqvist, we realize they are somewhat offensively challenged, but it's the guys who scored last night who might be the real difference. We all know about the silly contract that they threw at Richards this offseason, and while he hasn't really lived up offensively, his leadership has been invaluable. But they drafted Derek Stepan and Chris Kreider in successive years to exactly what they did last night, attack the net and abuse the twine. Obviously Stepan is almost two years ahead of Kreider in NHL experience, but that doesn't mean the former Eagle has to play like a rookie. Maybe it's time for us to move away the Rangers old style, score a goal or two and then hope Lundy is a stone wall. Those days might be behind the blueshirts thanks to some youthful exuberance and some raw skill. Kreider and Stepan won gold in 2010 at the World Junior Championships, so why can't they capture some more hardware this year? If last night is any signal for how these two will play going forward then the Rangers cup dreams could be a lot more realistic than we think.

Or New York could have just been teasing us last night, only to disappoint on Thursday night in the Garden and be sent home early with a boatload of questions. But if the Rangers think they're worthy of Lord Stanley's presence then these two young guns will be the propellers to this ship.