Once every year, the Rangers recognize one player who goes above and beyond the call of duty. The Steven McDonald Extra Effort Award has been handed out since 1987-88. Past winners include Adam Graves, Jed Ortmeyer, Henrik Lundqvist and Ryan Callahan. It’s a prestigious award honoring former New York City cop Steven McDonald. With his son Connor also there to present the trophy, Mats Zuccarello added his name to an exclusive list.

Zuccarello has been fantastic this season leading the Rangers in scoring with 57 points (19-38-57). As usual, it was emotional with McDonald asking Alain Vigneault and the team to remember that level of commitment over the next two months. He also mentioned the Stanley Cup which drew thunderous applause. Hopefully, they’ll heed that message.

In a game the Rangers are leading 3-1 over the visiting Hurricanes entering the third period, Zuccarello continues to go above and beyond setting up Benoit Pouliot with a beautiful feed that fooled everyone. Basically, it allowed Pouliot to shoot into an empty net. He’s also taken the body and played strong defensively. This is the kind of effort you get daily from the pesky Norwegian. His line continues to dominate shifts.

Congrats to Zucc! Well deserved. The official New York Rangers account tweeted out this photo of the 2013-14 winner.