With just over eight minutes left on the clock, tied at two-all and skating shorthanded, the Rangers snagged possession.
Mika Zibanejad pushed up the ice and glanced back before carrying the puck into the offensive zone. With just a few explosive strides, Chris Kreider bolted up the middle — splitting tired Boston forwards Matthew Poitras and David Pastrnak — to join the best man in his wedding on the 2-on-1 rush.
The pass bounced off a backchecking Charlie McAvoy before it was settled by the skate of Kreider, who then buried it off a tough angle to shoot onlooking fans out of their seats and ultimately secure the Blueshirts’ 3-2 win over the Bruins on Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden.
Assistant captain Chris Kreider celebrates with Mika Zibanejad after scoring the game-winning short-handed goal in the third period of the Rangers’ 3-2 win over the Bruins on Feb. 5, 2025.
“I feel like I’ve missed a lot of those the last few months,” Kreider told The Post after the win, which pushed the Rangers to four points out of the second wild card. “Nice to see one go in.”
The game-winning goal was Kreider’s third shorthanded score of the season, as well as the Rangers’ ninth of the season, which ties the club with the Lighting for the second most in the NHL.
It also tied Kreider with Bill Fairbairn for fourth place on the Rangers’ all-time shorthanded goal list at 12.
To Kreider’s self-assessment, however, it was his first goal at home since Dec. 2.
Production has been down for the longest-tenured Ranger, whose 16 goals and three assists are good for the ninth-most points on the team.
Vincent Trocheck scores the game-tying goal on Joonas Korpisalo during the third period of the Rangers’ 3-2 win over the Bruins on Feb. 5, 2025.
It’s come in a season that has seen Kreider miss three games due to back spasms, land on injured reserve with an upper-body injury for four and serve one contest as a healthy scratch.
Still, Wednesday’s goal was his sixth game-winner of the 2024-25 season. It was a scenario Zibanejad and Kreider have found themselves in many times before, and the two saw it through flawlessly.
“You can hear him,” Zibanejad said when asked when he saw Kreider was with him. “Not screaming, the way he skates. In a situation like that, I think I was trying to get a breakaway maybe two or three times before that and then the play happens. Just knowing when we play together — we’ve played long enough together — to know that my first look is to see if he’s coming with me. And he is. If he’s going, no one’s going to catch him.”
Artemi Panarin (right) accepts congratulates from Mika Zibanejad after scoring a goal during the Rangers’ win over the Bruins.
Every game has carried weight since the Rangers nearly fell out of playoff contention earlier this season, but conference matchups like Boston — breathing down the Lightning’s neck for the second wild card — have become imperative.
The Bruins didn’t register a shot on goal until 12:36 into a scoreless, low-event first period.
That’s because for 35 minutes the Rangers dictated the pace of play, generated offensive zone time and generally controlled the game.
J.T. Miller check Andrew Peeke into the boards during the Rangers’ win over the Bruins.
It allowed their new-look top line, which has improved game to game, to open the scoring just over six minutes into the middle frame.
J.T. Miller ushered the puck into the Bruins zone at full speed before lining up Boston defenseman Brandon Carlo into the end boards.
The puck bounced out to Zibanejad, who found Artemi Panarin for a one-timer and the 1-0 lead.
Boston found its push, however, later in the second period.
After K’Andre Miller blocked Pastrnak’s first shot, the Bruins forward recovered the puck and whipped it past Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin to tie it up 1-1.
A mere 16 seconds later, Elias Lindholm flung one from the top of the right circle and it deflected off Adam Fox’s skate and in to give the visitors their first lead of the night.
Matt Rempe falls into goalie Joonas Korpisalo during the Rangers’ win over the Bruins.
Vincent Trocheck then got a stick on a Miller shot from the top of the zone just under five-and-a-half minutes into the third to even the score for a second time.
“I liked the resiliency in the third period the last two games,” head coach Peter Laviolette said, referencing the Rangers’ three-goal final frame in the win over the Golden Knights on Sunday. “Especially [Wednesday night], obviously the opponent, the standings — that all factored into it. We just lost in their building, so to come back and keep them from getting points and grabbing the two and moving on, I thought the third period was big.”
