It wasn’t pretty, but the New York Rangers collected their league leading 50th win of the season after beating the Arizona Coyotes 8-5 at Mullet Arena. The first place Blueshirts put on a brilliant offensive performance, and as a result, many players accomplished milestones, particularly Jonathan Quick, Chris Kreider, Alexis Lafreniere, and Adam Fox.
Jonathan Quick
With the win, the Rangers netminder passed Ryan Miller for the most wins of all time by an American born goalie. Quick made 27 saves in the victory. After the game, Head Coach Laviolette said,
“What an amazing career for him.”
This season, he has been nothing short of that. He is 17-5-2 with a .913 save percentage and a 2.54 goals against average. He has been a big reason why the Rangers find themselves in a goof position to have potentially the best record in the NHL.
Chris Kreider
Chris Kreider is already one of the greatest players to ever wear the Blueshirt, and Saturday’s milestone only helps his case. At 5:45 of the third period, he scored the 300th goal of his career to give the Rangers a 4-3 lead. It was also his 35th goal of the season. He has achieved that benchmark three seasons in a row, including this one. Kreider is 3rd in Rangers history in goals and has a good shot to end up at #1 by the time his career is over.
Alexis Lafreniere
Saturday night was arguably the best game of Alexis Lafreniere’s career. He picked up his first career hat trick, added another two assists, and in total, notch five points for the game. Lafreniere has excelled in his second line role this season. He is up to 25 goals and 27 assists for 52 points, all of which being new career highs. The 22 year-old continues to show growth each season.
Adam Fox
Fox picked up two assists against Arizona. His second of the game, on Alexis Lafreniere’s empty netter, was the 300th point of his career. He is only one of 13 defenseman in NHL history to rack up 300 points before playing in 350 games. Brian Leetch was the only other Ranger to do so, accomplishing the feat in 295 games. This season, he has 66 points (15 goals, 51 assists) in 65 games played.
And although it wasn’t quite a milestone, it was a huge game for Artemi Panarin, who picked up a goal and three assists for four points as he continues to add to his career highs.
Congratulations to all these players on the achievements. However, their eyes are on a bigger one, starting in a little less than three weeks…
BS Reports 
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