Breaking down Chris Kreider’s 302 goals with Rangers
Chris Kreider became just the third skater in New York Rangers history to score 300 goals when he netted he reached the milestone in an 8-5 win against the Arizona Coyotes on March 30. Since then, he’s scored two more goals, each a game-winner in New York’s past two contests.
Interestingly, Kreider appeared to score his 300th goal in the second period of that game against the Coyotes, but it was overturned because of goalie interference. But he kept p[lugging away and scored early in the third period and now sits behind Jean Ratelle (336) and Rod Gilbert (406) for the franchise record.
At just 32, he’s averaged 41 goals over the past three seasons; there’s a chance Kreider could challenge Gilbert’s record before his contract expires at the end of 2026-27. No matter how close he is to becoming the Rangers’ all-time leading goal scorer, here are some interesting statistics from his first 302 goals, with five games still remaining this season.
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Inside the Numbers: Chris Kreider becomes 3rd Rangers player with 300 goals
1996: Kreider has fired 1,996 shots on goal throughout his career, and with 302 goals, he has a 15.1 shooting percentage
217: The Rangers have won 217 games when Kreider scores a goal, with a record of 217-71-14 when he finds the back of the net.
157: Although Kreider made his NHL debut during the 2012 Stanley Cup playoffs, he scored his first regular-season goal on Feb. 5, 2013, against Martin Brodeur and the New Jersey Devils at the Prudential Center.
His first three goals came on the road, and he finally scored at home at Madison Square Garden in a game against the Buffalo Sabres on Oct. 31, 2013. Since then, he’s collected 157 at The World’s Most Famous Arena.
145: Kreider has collected 145 goals on the road, accounting for 48 percent of his career goal total.
111: When he scored his 300th NHL goal on Mar. 30 against the Arizona Coyotes, he became the 111th player to achieve the milestone with one NHL team. Kreider is also the 39th skater to reach 300 goals with an Original Six franchise.
108: Kreider has tied Gilbert for second on the all-time franchise list with 108 power-play goals. He is only nine power-play goals away from breaking the franchise record, currently held by Camille Henry, with 116.
106: From Hall of Famers like Brodeur and Roberto Luongo to former teammates Alexandar Georgiev and Cam Talbot, Kreider has beaten 106 different goalies over his 12 NHL seasons.
105: As of April 6, Kreider is 105 goals away from breaking Gilbert’s team record of 406 goals, which has been the top mark since his last game on Nov. 23, 1977.
100: Kreider scored his 100th career goal on Dec. 15, 2017, on home ice against current teammate Jonathan Quick, then with the Los Angeles Kings.
Related: Inside the Numbers: Jonathan Quick’s historic NHL career with Rangers, Kings, Golden Knights
93: Mika Zibanejad wears jersey #93, so it is only fitting that as of their most recent game together on Apr. 5, against the Detroit Red Wings, Zibanejad has assisted on 93 (30.7 percent) of Kreider’s career goals.
67: Whether it’s been Adam Fox, Henrik Lundqvist or Patrick Kane, 67 different skaters have earned an assist on at least one of Kreider’s goals.
59: According to his career splits available at Hockey-Reference.com, Kreider does his best work between November and March, averaging 47.5 goals in those two months, but historically, he’s scored the most goals in February with 59.
52: In 2021-22, Kreider had his best season, collecting 77 points and becoming a member of the 50-goal club. He finished the campaign with 52 lamplighters, tying Adam Graves (1993-94) for the second-most in a single season. Jaromir Jagr owns the franchise record with 54 in 2005-06.
50: Since scoring his first NHL goal against the Devils, it is not surprising that he has the most career goals against the Rangers rival, with 50. Overall, his best performances have come against division rivals: the New York Islanders (44), Washington Capitals (43), Philadelphia Flyers (42) and Pittsburgh Penguins (42).
47: According to Stathead.com, Kreider has scored 47 goals that have tied the game for the Rangers at some point in 810 career games.
44: Kreider’s first game-winning goal came on Jan. 3, 2015, against Michael Neuvirth and the Sabres. Since that night, he’s collected 43 more game-winners to climb to third in Rangers history behind Ratelle (46) and Gilbert (52).
9: Although he’s known for his skills on the man advantage, Kreider has nine shorthanded goals, including tallies against the San Jose Sharks, Arizona Coyotes, St. Louis Blues, Montreal Canadiens, Edmonton Oilers, Ottawa Senators, Boston Bruins, Penguins and Sabres.
9: Kreider has scored nine unassisted goals in his career, with his first coming against the Calgary Flames on Dec. 16, 2014. He’s got eight more such goals against the Coyotes (x2), Blues (x2), Canadiens, Flyers, Chicago Blackhawks and Anaheim Ducks.
8: Through 302 career goals, Kreider has beaten netminders Tristan Jarry and Sergei Bobrovsky most often, with each goalie surrendering eight goals apiece. Although Jarry has only played with the Penguins, Bobrovsky has given up goals while playing with the Columbus Blue Jackets (five) and Florida Panthers (three).
8: Kreider has scored eight empty-net goals, five of which came at Madison Square Garden and three on the road. He’s scored two against the Penguins and one against the Minnesota Wild, Blues, Devils, Blue Jackets and Kings. On Jan. 13, 2022, Kreider scored into an empty net at the SAP Center in San Jose to collect his 200th goal.
6: In 12 seasons, he has collected six hat tricks, which ties him for fourth all-time in Rangers history, a spot he occupies with seven other players, including Mark Messier, Phil Esposito and Ratelle. He remains three away from Bill Cook’s record of nine. Kreider has split his production evenly with three on the road against the Devils, Flyers and Colorado Avalanche and three at home against the Canadiens, Coyotes and Vancouver Canucks.
6: As mentioned, Kreider’s best season was 2021-22, when he scored 52 goals. That was the campaign when he registered the longest goal-scoring streak of his career, which lasted six games from Jan. 13- 24, 2022. During the streak, he had a lamplighter against the Sharks, Flyers, Coyotes, Kings, Toronto Maple Leafs and Carolina Hurricanes.
0: Kreider is one of the most gifted scorers in Rangers history but has yet to score a penalty shot goal, failing on four attempts. He did not convert on penalty shots against the Bruins (Nov. 19, 2013), Lightning (Nov. 19, 2015), Panthers (Nov. 21, 2015) nor Penguins (Apr. 8, 2021).
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