Stepan Up: Derek Stepan celebrates his first of 3 goals with Ryan McDonagh. Part of his 2nd career hat trick.
AP Photo/Bill Kostroun

It was another strong performance. The Rangers won their third consecutive game defeating the Hurricanes 5-1 at The Garden. For the first time in 13 games, they scored more than three goals. Even better, Derek Stepan is the story of the game. His second career hat trick highlighted a big night. Not to be outdone Carl Hagelin scored twice. The Rangers improved to 3-0-0 since he returned. Chris Kreider and Mats Zuccarello added three assists. Henrik Lundqvist made 27 saves.

The obvious is that after 13 games, Stepan is finally off the snide in a big way. What a way to break out. He scored three times against overmatched third stringer Justin Peters. Since Alain Vigneault split up Stepan and Brad Richards, it’s benefited everyone. There was no way they could continue to having our top two centers together. Stepan has found chemistry with Kreider and Zuccarello, who each have three-game point streaks. Not to sound like a broken record but Kreider has been a much different player since his recall from Hartford. He’s continuing to use his body and make plays. On Stepan’s first on the power play. Kreider freed up a loose puck. On the second, it was a strong play along the boards allowing Zuccarello to set up Stepan.

With Kreider going and Hagelin already making an impact, there’s no doubt this team is much improved. Hagelin is that key ingredient who makes them harder to play against. That he picked up his fourth career two-goal game in just Game 3 shows just how essential the pesky Swede’s become. If Ryan Callahan is the heart of the Blueshirts, Hagelin’s the soul. He already has three points in three wins and the team is just one under .500 (6-7-0). Not bad considering how poorly they started. Following a shaky start, Hagelin got the scoring started when he took a Benoit Pouliot feed and fooled Peters with a backhand. Brad Richards, who started it with a solid play in his end got the other assist. Once he scored, the Rangers awoke and came at the Canes in waves. After being outshot 6-3 early, they finished the first period on a 9-3 run.

A strong penalty kill on a ridiculous Hagelin call led to him scoring out of the box on a mini-break. After a Peters mishandled a Taylor Pyatt clear, Hagelin stuffed one home for his second. Ironically, the goal came at almost an identical time (8:26) as the first (8:16). Even a period apart, that’s kind of creepy. Post-Halloween ghosts at MSG? 😛

The game wasn’t without intensity following a Ryan Murphy clip of Derek Dorsett. The rookie defenseman made the mistake of going low on a hip check low bridging Dorsett, who didn’t take too kindly promising retribution. Good thing the Rangers took advantage on the power play, which suddenly is becoming potent. With Manny Malhotra off for a cross check, it gave them extra time in the Carolina zone. Plenty for Stepan to get his first of the season. Critiqued for blowing chances, he didn’t miss this time with Kreider doing a good job in front. Zuccarello added the other assist.

Predictably, Dorsett went after Murphy getting two for roughing and two for elbowing. Jay Harrison came to the kid’s defense getting a rough which still gave the Canes an opportunity to get back in it. They took advantage thanks to an innocent looking Andrej Sekera shot from a sharp angle fooling Lundqvist. The replay seemed to indicate that it deflected off Anton Stralman. Jiri Tlusty and Justin Faulk picked up helpers.

Lundqvist made a couple of timely stops early in the third to keep Carolina at bay. I still don’t know how he was selected the game’s number one star over Stepan. Heck. Kreider or Zuccarello would’ve been a better choice than our goalie, who the media has a fascination with. Listening to Joe Micheletti after the game is bad enough. Hank was good. But it’s not like he stood on his head.

Tonight was more about Stepan, who recorded his first hat trick since that huge rookie debut at Buffalo. His second was a beauty set up by Zuccarello and Kreider. It started thanks to a great fore-check from Kreider, who took a Cane off the puck. Then Zuccarello fed Stepan for an easy one-timer in the slot. That line was flying all night. There was another shift where they kept Carolina pinned in for an extended period leading to cheers. Well deserved. Speaking of which, Stepan caught a break on his third goal when he sent a wrist shot off a Cane defenseman that trickled by Peters. Zuccarello and Kreider each added their third assists.

Vigneault let Hagelin try for the hat trick in the final minute. He nearly got it but hit the post after a Brian Boyle miss. Boyle doesn’t have a goal yet but it’s not for lack of effort. He’s been one of the most consistent players so far always bringing a strong work ethic. It might not always be appreciated by our fans, who go out of their way to critique his slow skating and lack of finish. But this guy has been a gamer since he came over from LA. He is a good penalty killer and solid face-off guy winning 9 of 15 tonight. He also has been a strong fore-checker this year adjusting to Vigneault’s more aggressive system. I’m glad he’s still a Ranger. You need those types that do the little things that don’t show up in the stat sheet.

All in all, a good win. Three in a row and four of five. The Rangers continue to improve defensively allowing two or fewer in six straight. Their record is 4-2-0. Things are headed in the right direction. And that’s minus our captain and with no Rick Nash in sight. Give Vigneault credit along with the players for sticking with it. The schedule gets tougher with Anaheim visiting Monday and then the Pens. Those will be good tests to see where this club is. Now, we can look forward to it.

BONY 3 Stars:

3rd Star-Kreider/Zuccarello, NYR (3 A each-combined with Stepan for 9 points, +6 rating- can’t ignore them)

2nd Star-Carl Hagelin, NYR (2 goals-4th multi-goal career game, 5 SOG, 3 takeaways, +2 in 17:44- NYR 3-0 with Hags)

1st Star-Derek Stepan, NYR (hat trick-1, 2, 3-2nd career 3-goal game, 7 SOG, +2 in 14:01-Welcome Back Step!)