GIF: Watch Kevin Klein score the overtime game-winner against the Devils (no, really, Kevin Klein)
Kevin Klein (yes, Kevin Klein) netted the Rangers game-winner in overtime Tuesday night against the Devils.
Kevin Klein is many things. He's a steady third pairing defenseman playing in his second season for the New York Rangers. He's not Michael Del Zotto, which instantly endeared him to Rangers fans when he was acquired for said former Blueshirt last season. And now, to what is likely the surprise of many, Klein is the first Rangers defenseman to score a goal in this 2014-15 season, and the owner of Tuesday night's overtime game-winner against the New Jersey Devils.
Yes; that Kevin Klein.
Klein, and virtually the entire Rangers defense corps, got off to a rough start. But the 29-year-old, much like his fellow defensemen, has gotten better as the Rangers have begun to turn things around. Fun fact about Klein: Entering Tuesday night's matchup against the Devils, Klein had played 439 games in the NHL, and had scored only two game-winners. It's also relevant to bring up the goal is only the 18th of his career, but seeing as the Rangers trailed by a pair in the third, on the road, only to storm back and defeat a division rival, New York didn't really care how it came away with two points.
Posting this highlight without commenting on the heady assist by Chris Kreider would be incomplete. Kreider had perhaps his best game of the young season, as the 23-year-old kicked off the night by scoring the team's first power play goal of the season, and then ended things by drawing two defensemen toward him in the overtime, only to pick out an open Klein for the decisive tally.