Sign in Subscribe
New York Rangers Game Notes

Rangers vs. Ducks: Kreider Flies Home

Kreider’s return stole the spotlight, Mika’s scratch stole the headlines, and the Rangers’ unraveling special teams reminded everyone just how much they miss Adam Fox.

Eric Kohn

Eric Kohn

— 6 min read
Rangers vs. Ducks: Kreider Flies Home
© Brad Penner-Imagn Images
  • In a way, the outcome of that game was always going to be largely irrelevant. Win or lose, the whole narrative was going to be about Chris Kreider's (and, to a lesser extent, Jacob Trouba's) return to Madison Square Garden. This was a date that's been circled on the calendar since the trade was made.

  • The tributes were well done, and the extended ovation for Kreider was obviously well deserved. He's a New York Ranger legend. His number 20 will hang in the rafters of Madison Square Garden one of these days. And deservedly so. We can lament the way it ended. We've done plenty of that already. But that shouldn't prevent us from appreciating what he meant to this team for so many years.
  • I thought the decision by MSG Network not to carry the tribute video to Kreider instead of cutting to the first commercial break, while absolutely keeping with precedent, was still odd. This wasn't the first return of Frank Vatrano or Ryan Strome or even Barclay Goodrow. This was Christopher James Kreider. Eating a commercial break and carrying the tribute would have been nice for everyone who couldn't be at the game tonight to see it in person.
  • Hell, even the Ducks broadcast did a better job of at least picking up the tail end of the tribute and Kreider's thank-you lap than MSG did. Just weird.
  • Alright, let's get to the Mika Zibanejad of it all. Mid-day yesterday we found out that Mika had missed a team meeting and, as a result, would be a healthy scratch for the game against the Ducks. Mike Sullivan suggested it had to do with traffic, and I saw some people on X suggesting that Mika got caught up in a jam created by a multiple-car pile up, although I don't know that for certain.

Read more