Chris Kreider recorded his third career hat trick and first since 2016 on Wednesday night, accounting for all three goals in the Rangers’ 4-3 loss to the Flyers in Philadelphia.
Two of them came on power plays, both on assists by Mika Zibanejad, which is exactly the sort of thing the team needs in the absence of star forward Artemi Panarin.
But as productive as Kreider was, he got the job done with a minimum of shooting theatrics. The total distance traveled by the three pucks from shot to goal line was less than 10 feet.
That’s OK, though.