VANCOUVER, British Columbia — After Brett Howden finally scored Monday night, snapping a 35-game drought without a goal, he could laugh at the jokes that came his way from teammates.
“Someone asked if I wanted to keep my first puck,” Howden said with a chuckle on Tuesday.
It may not have been as funny 24 hours earlier, when the Rangers rookie center was battling more than the other team on the ice to get his game back.
Howden was an early-season surprise for the Rangers after earning a spot out of camp, chipping in four goals and six assists in his first 17 games for a team that was 9-7-2 and feeling good about itself.