And so it was at 18:48 of the first period at the Garden on Saturday afternoon that Kaapo Kakko scored his first NHL goal … and smiled widely from the bench when he appeared on the video screen during the PA announcement.
“That was a great feeling,” the second-overall selection of June’s entry draft said of the huge response from the crowd. “Of course [scoring the goal] feels good. It’s why you play hockey.
“But we didn’t play good. It was a big goal for us, but not enough.”
Kakko was the only Ranger to beat backup Mike Smith in the Blueshirts’ 4-1 defeat to Edmonton.