BC's Kreider Helps Rangers over Hurricanes in Seventh Game

The New York Rangers have played in five elimination games so far this spring in the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs. They've won all five, and are now headed to the Eastern Conference final.

Chris Kreider (Boston College) scored two goals, including one on the power play, to lift the Rangers to a 6-2 victory over host Carolina tonight in Game Seven of their Eastern Conference semifinal series. The Rangers won the series, four games to three, and became the first team to win on the road in this series after the two clubs split the first six games, with the home team winning each time. It was Carolina's only home loss of the 2022 postseason, after its seven-games series win over Boston in the first round where the Hurricanes won all four games at home.

Kreider, 31, who scored a career-high 52 goals during the 2021-22 NHL regular season, now has eight goals in the playoffs, giving him 60 to date. He also has 15 career goals in NHL playoff elimination contests.

Adam Fox (Harvard) started the scoring for the Rangers in the clinching contest Monday, scoring on the first power play of the game. Andrew Copp (Michigan) had a goal and an assist on the evening, while Frank Vatrano (UMass) and K'Andre Miller (Wisconsin) both posted assists.

Kreider, from Boxford, Mass., played three seasons at BC, recording 49 goals and 92 points and helping the Eagles to NCAA titles in both 2010 and 2012 before turning pro. He was drafted 19th overall by New York in 2009, after scoring 33 goals in his second season at Phillips Academy. 

The Rangers will now host two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay beginning Wednesday at Madison Square Garden, in the opener of the conference final. New York won all three meetings between the two teams in the regular season—however, the Lightning just swept Florida, the NHL's top team during the regular season, in four straight games in the conference semifinals, and have now won 10 consecutive playoff series dating back to 2020.

Michigan's Power Scores First NHL Goal

It took five games, but much-heralded rookie defenseman Owen Power (Michigan) finally has his first NHL goal.

Power, 19, the top selection in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft by the Buffalo Sabres, scored their fourth goal in last night's 5-2 victory at New Jersey. He took a pass from a prone Jeff Skinner on the left side in-close, and then swept the puck underneath Devils goaltender Andrew Hammond (Bowling Green) less than nine minutes into the third period to break open a 3-2 game. Tage Thompson (UConn) also assisted on the goal.

Power, from Mississauga, Ontario, now has one goal and one assist in five NHL games, four of which have been Buffalo victories. He recorded six goals and 42 assists for 48 points over the past two seasons at Michigan, and led the Wolverines to both this year's Big Ten championship and the NCAA Frozen Four.

Also concerning former Michigan players on Thursday night, Andrew Copp tallied a natural hat trick for the visiting New York Rangers in a 6-3 win over the rival New York Islanders. The Ann Arbor native, who was acquired by the Rangers from Winnipeg earlier this year, skated with his hometown Michigan from 2012 to 2015, collecting 40 goals and 81 points over three seasons. He has now appeared in over 500 NHL contests, regular and post-season combined, and has registered just over 200 career points to date.