It had been a while since Chris Kreider scored in a game. He entered Friday night without one in his last five. By the conclusion of the night, Kreider flipped the script by scoring twice for the New York Rangers in a 5-1 home win over the Anaheim Ducks on Dec. 15.

Kreider’s fingerprints were all over the Rangers’ victory that got the weekend off to a good start. It was the 32-year-old former 2009 first round pick that made a bit of franchise history by continuing to climb up the list for most goals and power-play goals by a Ranger.

It didn’t start out well. Facing a slumping opponent that’s not been the same without emerging star Mason McTavish, the Rangers didn’t swarm the Ducks’ zone for much of the first period. Instead, they fell behind with less than seven minutes left. After Ryan Lindgren absorbed a big hit from Brock McGinn, Brett Leason beat Jonathan Quick with a long wrist shot upstairs to give the Ducks a 1-0 lead.

Kreider Ties Graves for Third on Rangers’ All-time Franchise Goal List

Shortly after Adam Edstrom made his presence felt with a hit on Ilya Lyubushkin, Blake Wheeler and Mika Zibanejad did some strong work along the boards to free up a loose puck. Eventually, it came to an open Kreider, who beat former teammate Frank Vatrano to score his first of the game to tie it with 2:54 remaining in the period.

The goal was the 280th of Kreider’s career – tying him with Adam Graves for third on the all-time franchise goal scoring list. He wasn’t done yet.

It was also career point number 500. After adding a second point with another goal later, he trails Graves by six points for 10th on the Rangers’ all-time franchise scoring list. It’s a pretty good bet he’ll surpass him this season.

Vesey Gets Another Big Goal

In between Kreider’s memorable night, Jimmy Vesey continues to make a difference. On a strong offensive shift with Blake Wheeler, Vesey got another big goal to put the Rangers in front with 8:15 left in the second period.

Wheeler provided the grit by coming off the wall with the puck. He moved it over to Adam Fox, who then found Vesey in the slot for the go-ahead tally at 11:45. It was Vesey’s second goal in the last three. He’s up to seven on the season. Vesey is well on his way to matching the 11 he scored in 2022-23.

Kreider Ties Graves in Power-Play Goals on Rangers’ All-time Franchise List

If there was a notable difference between the Rangers and Ducks, it was in overall team discipline. While the Rangers gave Anaheim three power plays, the Ducks continued to take bad penalties, which allowed one of the league’s best power plays to take advantage.

When Urho Vaakanainen took down Jonny Brodzinski with under five minutes left in the period, it gave the Rangers their fourth straight power play. This time, they made the undisciplined Ducks pay thanks to Kreider. He tied Graves for fourth on the Rangers’ all-time franchise list with his 100th power-play goal.

On the man-advantage, Fox moved the puck over to Artemi Panarin at the right point. He fired a shot pass that Kreider neatly redirected past Ducks goalie Lukas Dostal for power-play goal number 100. That made it 3-1 with 3:41 left in the second.

Quick Remains Perfect in Regulation

While Kreider made history, the Rangers again got outstanding goaltending from Quick. Back in for an ineffective Igor Shesterkin, he made several key saves to remain perfect in regulation.

After yielding a goal to Leason back in the first on a stoppable shot, Quick rounded into form by making some acrobatic stops to deny the Ducks. An entertaining goalie who never gives up on a play, his style is fun to watch. He certainly had the MSG crowd behind him.

For the game, Quick made 29 saves on 30 shots to improve to 9-0-1 for the season.

Goodrow Frustrates Gudas

One of the subplots to Friday’s game was the battles between Barclay Goodrow and Radko Gudas. During the second period, Gudas body slammed Goodrow to the ice. He was none too pleased. Nothing happened during the scrum. They just exchanged words.

With less than six minutes to go in the third period, Gudas finally had enough of Goodrow slashing him. That led to a misconduct for an early exit for the gritty defenseman. Goodrow frustrated Gudas into a bad penalty. That would lead to another Rangers’ power-play goal.

Over a minute into the five-on-four, Panarin set up Zibanejad in the left circle for a rocket that Dostal had no chance on. It was the third consecutive game that Zibanejad scored on the power play. He’s up to nine goals on the season.

Edstrom Scores in NHL Debut

Edstrom was an emergency call-up from Hartford. When Nick Bonino told him he couldn’t go, Edstrom got to make his NHL debut. It proved to be memorable. Not only was the 2019 sixth round pick active throughout. But Edstrom scored in his NHL debut.

On one final rush with time winding down, Edstrom took a Goodrow feed and scored his first NHL goal with three seconds remaining in the game. It’s one he’ll never forget.

For the game, the 23-year-old forward scored his first goal with three shots, two hits, and a plus-1 rating in 13 shifts (9:39). Edstrom wore number 84.

Rangers visit Bruins

On Saturday night, Dec. 16, the Rangers visit the Boston Bruins. It’ll be the second regular season meeting of three. The Rangers took the first matchup 7-4 on Nov. 25.

Similar to that one, it’s the second half of a back-to-back. The only difference is this time, the teams will play at night. That could mean both sides are better rested. Don’t expect as high a scoring game.

The Bruins came back to defeat the New York Islanders 5-4 in a shootout. They’ll be without top defenseman Charlie McAvoy when the Rangers visit Boston. The Rangers could have defenseman K’Andre Miller back. He missed his second straight game due to personal reasons. But he did practice.