The New York Rangers are in a desperate position as they face the New Jersey Devils Saturday night in Game 6 of their first-round playoff series. After winning the first 2 games of the season, they lost the next 3 and were on the verge of elimination as they hosted their rivals at Madison Square Garden. After falling behind 1-0 in that game, Chris Kreider potted a tying power play goal and joined Hall of Famer Mark Messier in the process.
Chris Kreider has tied Mark Messier for the NHL record for most goals (16) in potential elimination games.
— NYR Stats & Info (@NYRStatsInfo) April 30, 2023
The goal for Kreider was the 16th of his career in a potential elimination games. Messier, one of the Rangers' all-time franchise heroes, also scored 16 postseason goals in games that could have eliminated his team from the postseason.
Kreider's ability to strike on the power play had given the Rangers their early advantage in this series. He had scored 4 power play goals in Games 1 and 2 when the Rangers won both games on Devils ice by 5-1 scores.
Chris Kreider was able to score another goal in Game 3 of the series, but the Rangers lost that game in overtime. The speedy and high-scoring Rangers forward was unable to get on the scoreboard in Games 4 or 5.
The Rangers had the opportunity to take the lead in the game with another power play opportunity at the start of the second period, but the Devils were able to blunt that attempt. However, the Rangers did take a 3-1 lead in the 2nd period when Mika Zibanejad broke a 10-game scoring slump when he beat New Jersey goaltender Akira Schmid and Vladimir Tarasenko followed with a goal of his own
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