Chris Kreider caught a little bit of criticism from his coach after his first game back, and caught an equal amount of praise after his second.
The 23-year-old winger had missed 19 consecutive games as a result of a fracture in his left hand and returned to action for the Game 4 loss Wednesday in this second-round series against the Penguins. He used his speed and physicality, but showed some sloppiness with the puck.
“Timing-wise with the puck, and decision-wise with the puck, he fit in real great with our group — meaning, he was off,” coach Alain Vigneault said at Thursday’s practice.
Kreider then played a much more assertive game in Game 5 on Friday night in Pittsburgh, scoring the game-opening goal on the power play in a 5-1 win, cutting the Penguins’ lead in this best-of-seven contest to 3-2 heading into a must-win Game 6 Sunday night at the Garden.
“For close to seven weeks, he couldn’t stick handle, couldn’t do anything,” Vigneault said on a conference call on Saturday. “That’s as good as I’ve seen anyone respond that hasn’t had a full team practice, coming and stepping in.”
Vigneault cited Kreider’s physical shape as one of the main reasons he was able to come back so quickly, noting: “He is a tremendously conditioned athlete. He really takes care of himself physically.”
Veteran center Brad Richards echoed that sentiment.
“He’s already one of the stronger hockey players I’ve ever seen in the gym,” Richard said. “For him to get all that time, to continue to work and keep his legs, not to mention how mentally fresh and excited he’d be. You don’t want injuries, but fortunate it was his hand — he can jump into that pace. I’m sure he’d like to have a little more of his hands and timing.”
Kreider, always one to be coy when possible, gave a rather simple evaluation of his game after Game 5.
“There are some things I can continue to work on,” he said, following his rebound goal in the first period that broke the team’s 0-for-36 streak on the power play. “It’s been a while, but there is some stuff I can work on.”
The lovefest of the Rangers line of Benoit Pouliot-Derick Brassard-Mats Zuccarello continued on Saturday, following the Game 5 performance in which Brassard scored twice and the line combined for six points.
“I’m not exactly sure how to explain it, but we need it to continue,” Vigneault said. “They’ve been able to get some good chances against a real strong opponent that defends real well. We need that line to continue to do it for us.”
The line has been one of the team’s most consistent since they were put together around Christmas, and for a team predicated on rolling four lines — and one whose top scorers are underachieving — the coach knows how important their production is.
“They’ve been a big part of success,” Vigneault said, “and if we intend on moving forward, which we intend on doing, we’re going to need those guys to come up again.”