Kreider's game peaking for Rangers by getting 'to the right areas'

Chris Kreider doesn't want to complicate his performance and production this season.

"I play with some pretty good players," the 30-year-old forward for the New York Rangers said. "I'm just trying to get to the right areas."
Kreider is in the right areas a lot because he's a pretty good player himself, arguably never better than he's been the past two months.
He has scored 17 goals this season, tied for fifth in the NHL with Calgary Flames forward Andrew Mangiapane and Anaheim Ducks forward Troy Terry, heading into the game at the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday (9 p.m. ET; ESPN+, HULU, NHL LIVE). His 10 power-play goals are second behind Edmonton Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl (13). He's on pace for 52 goals, which would shatter his NHL career high of 28 he has reached twice (2016-17, 2018-19). He's a big reason the Rangers are 18-6-3.
"He's matured so much," said former NHL coach John Tortorella, Kreider's first coach with the Rangers in 2012. "I watch his interviews. I listen to him. I haven't coached him in many years, but he's such an intelligent player right now. Add that to the speed, the body, the legs, everything that comes with it. He has full command of what it is to be a great pro. I think it's a great person to emulate, coming into the League and kind of being one-dimensional to getting to where he is now as a hockey player."

Where Kreider is now as a hockey player is essentially a case study in how to effectively mesh his strengths with those of his teammates.
Case in point, his positioning on the power play as the Rangers' so-called net-front presence.
"He's not just a guy that stands in front of the goalie and is looking to tip pucks," Tortorella said.
Kreider maneuvers around the area in front and to the side of the blue paint. He's been at his most effective this season to the side of the posts with his stick on the ice and eyes up while he anticipates a pass masquerading as a shot from defenseman Adam Fox or forwards Artemi Panarin, Mika Zibanejad and Ryan Strome.
He has scored four power-play goals on stick deflections from either in front of the post or directly to the side of it from where the shot was coming. Three goals on the man-advantage have come on redirections of passes through the slot.
"He reads the situation," Zibanejad said. "If he feels like there is a tip and the goalie won't be at the post, he sees that very early. He knows when to do it and that's huge for our power play to have that threat down low. You don't always have that."
Goalies hate it, said Steve Valiquette, the former Rangers goalie who is a studio analyst for their games on MSG Network.
"Really annoying when players get behind you, especially when you're down a man," said Valiquette, who is also president and CEO of Clear Sight Analytics, a data-based company built around measuring scoring chances. "You can't challenge and it's very distracting."
Kreider said playing with Panarin, Fox, Zibanejad and Strome on the power play requires him to always be ready for the puck, even when he doesn't think he's an option for them.
"His stick is always available," Valiquette said.

Kreider said he has talked with former Boston College teammate Cam Atkinson about playing with Panarin specifically. Atkinson, now with the Philadelphia Flyers, scored an NHL career-high 41 goals as Panarin's teammate for the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2018-19.
"We talked a little bit about just getting to spots and being ready for the puck when he didn't necessarily think he was going to get the puck," Kreider said. "'Artie' is so good at hitting you with misdirection. There's been a lot of times in the last few years when I'm standing up straight and all of a sudden, it's right between my legs. If I was ready for it, I probably would have had a better opportunity. He's hard to read. Sometimes he's even hard to read for us, so it's just constantly being ready when he has the puck.
"But that also applies to Ryan Strome, to Adam Fox and to Mika. Those guys are so incredible at looking one way and putting the puck on a tee right where you are. When everyone on the ice doesn't necessarily think you're going to get the puck that's usually when those guys are giving you the puck."
Kreider, though, has been a multidimensional offensive threat this season.
He's shooting more, averaging 2.81 shots on goal per game. His NHL career average coming into the season was 2.23.
He is playing regularly on the second penalty kill unit, averaging 1:23 of shorthanded ice time per game, up from the 31 seconds he averaged last season, his NHL career high. He can create shorthanded scoring chances with his speed and anticipation.
"It's so easy to pigeon-hole him into being a strong, straight-ahead guy just going after pucks on the forecheck and being in the blue," Tortorella said. "There's a lot more to his game than that."
Said former Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist, "I always looked at him and said, 'He is this good but can he do it every night?' There's no question he can be a 40-goal scorer. The big thing is to be that you need to almost every night be there and so far, he's been there."
Kreider even attempted the lacrosse-style goal nicknamed "The Michigan" against the Boston Bruins on Nov. 26. Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman got over in time to make the save.
"When you're feeling it, you're feeling it so you might as well go for it," Zibanejad said.
Kreider has been feeling it all season. It's often going for him.
"He's different," Valiquette said. "Very patient and methodical in front of the net. He's getting a lot of high-danger chances. He's more consistent than I've seen him at trusting his game. He hasn't wavered."