SEE IT: NYC back pages react to Chris Kreider carrying Rangers to Game 6 win over Hurricanes

The Rangers secured the seventh Eastern Conference Finals appearance in franchise history with a 5-3 win over the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 6 at PNC Arena on Thursday night. 

Trailing by two early in the third period, New York looked destined for a third consecutive loss and a deciding Game 7 on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden. But Chris Kreider had other plans. The 12th-year Blueshirt recorded a natural hat trick to put them in front. 

“That is just a monster third period,” coach Peter Laviolette said in his postgame news conference. “He put it on his back and he really delivered. It was more than him, but at the end of the day, we needed to score goals and this is what he does.

“It was a pretty unbelievable performance by him.”

Kreider joined Ranger legends Mark Messier and Wayne Gretzky as the only three players in franchise history to record three goals in a single playoff period. 

All-Star netminder Igor Shesterkin made some huge saves down the stretch and Barclay Goodrow added an empty netter to put the game on ice and solidify New York’s spot in the third round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. 

Here’s how the NYC back pages reacted…