12 New York Rangers Highlights from Last Season to Get Fans Excited for 2013-14

The New York Rangers have a tough hill to climb in 2013-14.

As a result of the new division alignment in the NHL, there are nine Eastern Conference teams, including the Rangers, that appeared in the Playoffs last season.

In a season preview of sorts, let's reflect on 12 great moments from the Rangers 2012-13 campaign that are sure to leave Rangers fans feeling optimistic about what lies ahead.

Have a favorite moment of your own? Be sure to tell us about it in the comments section below.

Henrik Lundqvist Robs David Krejci

Henrik Lundqvist could probably have 20 slides of his own from last season alone.

That, however, is an article for a different day.

The King makes what might just be the save of the year with his team trailing 2-1 in the third period of the season opener. 

The Rangers would go on to lose 3-1, but to no fault of Lundqvist, who finished with 31 saves on 34 shots—including nine saves on nine shots on the penalty kill.

Rick Nash Makes a Filthy Pass to Carl Hagelin

The Rangers had scored nine goals in their previous two games headed into this Feb. 12 matchup against the Boston Bruins.

Rick Nash, who scored a goal and an assist against the Tampa Bay Lightning two nights earlier, was determined to keep the offense coming.

This kind of play just bleeds creativity and scoring instinct. It's the sort of thing you can't teach.

And it's the type of play that makes Nash one of the more fun players to watch in the world.

J.T. Miller Scores Two Goals in His Madison Square Garden Debut

Want to win the Rangers faithful over?

Easy. Score against the Islanders at Madison Square Garden.

Rookie J.T. Miller scored a goal on his first shift of the game Feb. 7, and he'd add another goal later in the second period.

Want to have Blueshirts fans second guess themselves?

Don't score in the next 24 games you play.

Here's to hoping Miller can channel the scoring prowess he exhibited that day.

Rick Nash Takes over in the Third Period

Rick Nash found himself on a hot streak at the beginning of March, scoring at least one goal in five straight games from Feb. 28 through March 7.

His two-goal performance against the Philadelphia Flyers fell smack-dab in the middle of that streak, with both goals coming in the third period to give the Rangers a victory against their divisional foes.

It was the first time Rangers fans really got to see how Nash could take over a game. In the 14 games prior to the streak, he only had three goals and five assists.

Derek Stepan Scores on Hockey Day in America

Hockey Day in America probably doesn't mean anything to the players, but it's always nice to win on a Sunday in front of the home fans.

As the NBC crew is quick to point out and repeatedly mention, this was a beautiful passing play that resulted in a goal—not something the Rangers did all that often on the power play last season.

Derek Stepan enjoyed a breakout season for the Rangers, and seeing him come up in the clutch like this has to have Rangers fans feeling good about what the future holds.

Ryan Callahan Ties It Shorthanded; Scores Four Points

At the beginning of April, the Jets and Rangers were neck and neck in the standings in a battle for the final few playoff spots in the east.

Ryan Callahan helped propel the Rangers to a huge 4-2 win on April 1. He was involved in every scoring play for the Rangers, notching the shorthanded goal above as well as three assists.

The captain scored 16 of his 31 points during the month of April last season.

Henrik Lundqvist Makes Three Consecutive Saves in OT

Desperate for every point they could get, Henrik Lundqvist saved the day against the Toronto Maple Leafs in a shootout victory April 10.

Hank came up big with three saves in a row in overtime to force a shootout. The Leafs did not score, and forward Mats Zuccarello scored the deciding goal in the second round.

Dan Girardi Scores the Only Goal of the Game

The New York Islanders and Rangers were vying for the final few playoff spots in April, and this game was airtight. 

Dan Girardi had logged nearly 30 minutes of ice time before he scored the only goal of the game on a beautiful pass from Derick Brassard. 

Sometimes a game like this needs an unlikely hero, and as Sam Rosen points out in his commentary, Girardi hadn't scored in 27 games prior to the game-winner.

Ryan Callahan Clinches It

The New York Rangers went 7-3 in their final 10 games to clinch the sixth seed in the east. 

It wasn't until the second-to-last game of the season that they clinched a playoff berth.

The Hurricanes took the Blueshirts to overtime before Ryan Callahan retrieved a Derek Stepan dump in and went far side past 'Canes goaltender Dan Ellis for the win.

The goal was a peak moment for the captain in an amazing finish to the season. He scored five goals and six assists down the stretch.

Derek Stepan Pots the Give-and-Go Game-Winner from Carl Hagelin

There isn't much Rangers fans would like to remember about the Rangers playoff run in 2012-13.

However, this goal is fantastic and came at a pivotal moment in the series against the Washington Capitals last season. 

With the Caps up 2-1 in the series and set to take the series back to Washington for Game 5, Game 4 at Madison Square Garden was essentially a must-win game.

Derick Brassard Forces Game 7

Derick Brassard had an immediate and continuous impact for the Rangers once he was acquired from the Columbus Blue Jackets at the NHL trade deadline.

In 13 regular season games, Brassard had five goals and six assists.

He continued to produce in the playoffs, scoring two goals and 10 assists in 12 games in an otherwise disappointing offensive effort put on by the Blueshirts before being eliminated by Boston.

This game-winner against the Washington Capitals—with the Rangers facing elimination in Game 6 of the first round of the playoffs—was his biggest victory thus far in his time in New York. It was the only goal of the game. 

Carl Hagelin Snipes Glove Side After a Beautiful Derick Brassard Pass

It doesn't matter what John Tortorella went on to say about Carl Hagelin on the power play; the young Swede enjoyed a respectable year with 10 goals and 14 assists, appearing in all 48 games for the Rangers.

Another example of the type of vision Derick Brassard has, he thread the needle and delivered the puck right to Hagelin's stick. 

Hagelin didn't waste any time and made it count right over Braden Holtby's glove to deliver a huge goal in Game 4 against the Capitals.