Chris Kreider's silly mouthguard antics with Matthew Tkachuk doesn't hide his poor play through the Eastern Conference Final.
A few weeks ago Chris Kreider was being hailed as a hero after his hat trick thrust the Rangers past Carolina.
Now the large left wing looks like he's auditioning for a circus that isn't here anymore along with the Kreider goal total against Florida. Last night, he stunned the audience with a rare dental procedure.
How else to explain Chris' bizarre decision to toss that naughty boy, Matt Tkachuk's mouth guard into the crowd. (And please don't tell me that the annoying Panther has "a big mouth.")
Luckily, Kreider got away with what surely would – should have – been a minor penalty for "unsportsmanlike" behavior. That really could have ruined the Rangers.
What Chris cannot get away with is his AWOL play along with No-Longer-Magical Mika and The Breadman.
As my buddy Sean McCaffrey notes, "These guys once were on fire and now they are ashes of the player we once knew."
Kee-rect, BUT, the series is tied at two – I surely thought it would be 3-1 Rangers by now – with the next game on Seventh Avenue, and guess what?
Maybe, the "Big Three" unit is just playing possum. Maybe they've suckered the Southerners into thinking they're dead and will suddenly come alive tomorrow night at The World's Most Famous Arena."
Hey, they are absolutely and positively due for a good – maybe "great" a la Iggy Shesterkin – game.
Thus, the formerly "dead" skating possums will emerge alive as no-longer-overpaid lugs, but as our heroes again. It could happen.
The Maven will assume that Shesty will continue his pursuit of the Conn Smythe Trophy and heroes-in-the-wings like Blake Wheeler will become heroes on the ice.
However, what we've seen so far is a dominating Florida team, strong in every area but goal.
Objective observers such as Sportsnet's Luke Fox figure that "The mental edge belongs to Florida's top lines."
And Lavvy – referring to his "Big Three" – is accurate when he says, "We need to be better."
Well, Pistol Pete steered them to the very-hard-to-get Presidents' Trophy; a prize that becomes more forgotten by the hour.
Now he's got home ice, a lotta potential and Matthew Tkachuk with a new mouthpiece to challenge.
It shouldn't be that hard, should it? Better that I should motor up to The Bronx Zoo and see what the possums have to say!