{"id":295564,"date":"2026-05-01T21:18:37","date_gmt":"2026-05-01T21:18:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/295564\/"},"modified":"2026-05-01T21:18:37","modified_gmt":"2026-05-01T21:18:37","slug":"ex-rangers-forward-celebrates-birthday-by-helping-ducks-eliminate-oilers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/295564\/","title":{"rendered":"Ex-Rangers forward celebrates birthday by helping Ducks eliminate Oilers"},"content":{"rendered":"

New York Rangers News<\/a><\/p>\n

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Former New York Rangers forward Chris Kreider turned 35 on Thursday. He celebrated by helping his new team, the Anaheim Ducks, clinch their first Stanley Cup Playoff series victory since 2017.<\/p>\n

Kreider, traded by the Rangers to the Ducks last June, scored his first goal of the series and added two assists for a three-point night to help Anaheim defeat the Edmonton Oilers 5-2<\/a> at Honda Center in Game 6 of their Western Conference First Round series. The Ducks, the No. 3 seed in the Pacific Division, will face the Vegas Golden Knights or Utah Mammoth<\/a> in the second round. Vegas leads that series 3-2 with Game 6 on Friday.<\/p>\n

It was the Ducks\u2019 first series victory since defeating the Oilers in seven games in Western Conference Second Round nine years ago.<\/a> They hadn\u2019t qualified for the postseason since 2018, when they were swept by the San Jose Sharks in the opening round. Anaheim bounced back after a 4-1 road loss in Game 5<\/a> to end the Oilers\u2019 quest for a third straight trip to the Stanley Cup Final.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe learned a lot about ourselves in this series, and we got better as this series went on,\u201d Kreider said after the win. \u201cThey\u2019ve got a very good team. We stepped up when we needed to and got some timely goals and timely goaltending.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Ducks led 1-0 when Kreider scored his first goal of the series, a one-timer from inside the right circle that beat Connor Ingram to \u200cthe \u2060short side. He added two assists to finish the series with five points, six shots on goals, 16 hits and a plus-4 rating in six games.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The line of Kreider, Leo Carlsson and Troy Terry combined for nine points in the clincher, with each scoring a goal and assisting on two others.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"NHL:Kirby Lee-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

It was the 49th career playoff goal for Kreider \u2013 but his first since May 20, 2024, when he scored for the Rangers in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Final against the Florida Panthers. His 48 postseason goals are the most in Rangers history \u2014 he\u2019s third in postseason points behind Brian Leetch (89) and Mark Messier (80). <\/p>\n

Kreider\u2019s most famous playoff moment with the Blueshirts came in Game 6 of the 2024 Second Round, when he had a natural hat trick in the third period of Game 6 against the Carolina Hurricanes to close out the series and get the Rangers into the conference final.<\/p>\n

He left Broadway with 582 points (326 goals, 256 assists)<\/a> in 883 regular-season games, ranking seventh in Rangers history in games played, third in goals, tied for first in power-play goals (116) and 10th in points.<\/p>\n

The Blueshirts dealt Kreider to the Ducks<\/a> last June 12 for forward prospect\u00a0Carey Terrance<\/a>\u00a0and an exchange of picks in the 2025 NHL Draft. The deal came after Kreider finished with 22 goals and 30 points in 2024-25, his poorest offensive season since 2017-18, while battling injuries and illness. A big part of the deal was money: The Rangers did not retain any of Kreider\u2019s salary on his contract, which runs through 2026-27 with an average annual value of $6.5 million.<\/a><\/p>\n

Kreider scores on 35th birthday, helps Ducks eliminate Oilers<\/p>\n

But the youthful Ducks were more than happy to pick up the tab.<\/p>\n

\u201cChris Kreider is the type of player we were looking to add this offseason,\u201d Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek said after the trade.<\/a> \u201cHe has size (6-foot-3, 230 pounds), speed and is a clutch performer that elevates his game in big moments. Chris also upgrades both of our special teams units, something we really needed to address.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kreider got off to a hot start with his new team, scoring 13 goals in his first 22 games. But he cooled off after that, finishing with 22 goals and 50 points in 75 games<\/a> \u2013 finishing the season without a goal in his final 11 games. However, he provided a net-front presence that the Ducks had been lacking \u2014 14 of Kreider\u2019s 22 regular-season goals came from high-danger areas, or \u201cin front of the net,\u201d according to NHL Edge.<\/a><\/p>\n

More important, his playoff experience was vital for a team that iced 14 players who were making their postseason debuts this year.<\/p>\n

Kreider said the full house in Anaheim was more than ready to celebrate the franchise\u2019s first series win in nearly a decade.<\/p>\n

\u201cLoud,\u201d Kreider said when asked about the atmosphere in one of the NHL\u2019s smaller buildings. \u201cSuper invested. Yeah, it was a blast. You can feel the energy in the building. It\u2019s just a ton of fun to play in front of our home crowds.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thanks to Kreider, Ducks fans will get a few more chances to cheer on their team this spring.<\/p>\n

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\t\tJohn Kreiser covered his first Rangers game (against the California Golden Seals) in November 1975 and is still going … More about John Kreiser<\/a><\/p>\n

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