With John Tortorella out, Kreider, 23 got a real shot to make an impact last season. The speedy winger registered 17 goals and 20 assists (37 points) and a plus-14 rating in 66 games in his first full NHL season. He will likely play on the top line with Derek Stepan and Rick Nash again this season, which makes him a 25-goal candidate this season.

Thursday Thoughts I hear that the St. Louis Blues will now go back the goalie platoon system after the Ryan Miller experiment failed. Elliott has proven himself, but I though the whole point of bringing Miller in was to get that hard-core experienced goalie in net?  Jake Allen is still unproven.  Good, but unproven. It's a shame that Carey Price isn't able to go this series. IT would've been great to see the two goaltenders duel it out again like in Socchi. Offer sheets just may be in vogue this summer. The Canadiens fought so hard to get that 1-0 lead the other night to only have it wiped away 17 seconds later. That was a cruel dagger.  Lundqvist may be lucky, but he is one of the top 3 goaltenders in the NHL right now, don't forget that. I went to bed after 2 periods last night because I haven't been feeling well. I wasn't exactly convinced Chicago was going to go 2 up in the series, but what a storm by the Kings scoring 5 in the third! Jeff Carter can be dangerous at times, can't he? I kinda liked how evenly spaced those 5 goals were scored last night. Like twisting the dagger a little bit at a time. Montreal needs to reach deep to get back into the series tonight. Maybe sprinkled with some luck? It will be interesting to see who gets traded away at the NHL Entry Draft as some teams want to get to the next level, while others are looking to retool after a disappointing showing. Has anyone noticed the game that Chris Kreider has brought to the Rangers in this series? His speed alone is killing the Habs. Having a night off from hockey now and then is alright, but I'm not condoning it mind you. Chicago is closest thing to a dynasty lately. Maybe the Kings if they get by the Blackhawks. That's all for today...see you next week!

Kreider had not played since March 24 because of a broken hand. He was a minus-1 with one shot in 15:24 TOI (2:32 PP TOI).

Head coach Alain Vigneault said the Kreider is day-to-day. It doesn't sound like he will return tonight in a crucial game for the Rangers. Kreider has not played since March 24th because of a broken hand.

Kreider has been skating recently, but appeared to have his best day this morning. His shots were harder and his stick handling was better but he remains a ways away from returning to the Rangers' lineup.

Kreider is skating with a brace, but no glove on his surgically repaired left hand this morning. Kreider will miss his seventh consecutive game tonight and remains without a timetable for his return.

No surprise, that the original TSN report ends up being spot on. The original details from the Rangers were very vague, but now that Kreider has officially had the surgery it is safe to assume that he will miss the rest of the regular season and likely part of the playoffs.

Rangers head coach Alain Vigneault confirmed that Kreider is dealing with a hand injury and it sounds like surgery is a possibility. For now there is no timetable for his return, but we know that he will miss at least five games and could be done for the rest of the regular season.

There was a report from Bob McKenzie that said he might have a broken hand and could miss one month. It was deleted rather quickly, so the nature of Kreider's injury is unknown at this time. The Rangers said he will not play tomorrow, but would provide no further update. Expect a more detailed injury report tom come on Wednesday.

Busy schedule in the NHL yesterday with 11 games played. The New York Rangers and Vancouver Canucks started it with a matinee, and young speedster Chris Kreider had a big game with 3 a hat trick against his former Head Coach John Tortorella. With the 3 goals, Kreider now has 16 points on the season but in only 20 games played.  And he is now playing on a line with Rick Nash, and the two of them really seem to complement each other with their speed.  Nash had a big game as well with a goal and 2 assists.  Boy are the Rangers happy to see him back.  If Nash and Kreider stay together as linemates then Krieder is worth a pickup...Boston beat Columbus in a lackluster game, 3-1.  Forward Milan Lucic had 2 goals and Dave Krejci 2 assists. Both players are worth a 6th forward option as they have scored 20 and 21 points respectively this season.  We are more intrigued by young Bruin defenseman Torey Krug who had an assist yesterday, and has 16 points on the season. He led all Boston players with 6:08 minutes of power play time.  Ryan Johansen scored the only goal for Columbus and with 19 points he is worth looking at. We think he is going to be a terrific player. The Road Warrier is back:  Montreal beat Toronto 4-2, and "Mad Max" Pacioretty had a big game with 2 goals and an assist. He has 12 points on the season, but he is on fire right now.  He is even making  his linemate Dave Desharnais become relevant again. After looking lost in the woods with only 1 assist in his first 19 games, Desharnais has 6 points in his last 6 games.  He may be worth a shot if you need forward help. Pittsburgh duo: There is probably no person who is more happy about James Neal's return from injury than Evgeni Malken. Malkin and Neal are simply magic together.  Malkin had a goal and 3 assists yesterday, while Neal had a goal and an assist in the Penguins easy win over the miserable Panthers.  Malkin now has 35 points on the year, and he has a shot at 100 points. Sabre blues: Buffalo is simply a terrible team, as they have only 6 wins on the season in 28 games.  They lost in OT yesterday to New Jersey 1-0.  Cory Schneider had to make only 15 saves for the shutout. You have to feel sorry for him going from the starter in Vancouver to the backup in New Jersey. That's about as big a fantasy value hit as you can have.  If Martin Brodeur comes back again next year, no reason he won't, then General Manager Lou Lamorello could have a problem. Schneider has only one more year left on his ...