Chris Kreider blames 1 player for the Rangers' loss in Game 3.

Following Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Final on Sunday afternoon, it was time for New York Rangers veteran forward Chris Kreider to play the blame game.

The Rangers faced off against the defending Stanley Cup champions, the Tampa Bay Lightning, in Game 3 and for the first time in their series thus far the Rangers failed to pick up the win. It was a hotly contested game all the way through, one that was only decided when Lightning forward Ondrej Palat, with less than a minute to go in regulation, fired off a shot that managed to beat Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin.

Following the game during a post game press conference, members of the Rangers were asked about that goal and what went wrong in the final minute of regulation for that to happen. The question was directed at Rangers forward Mika Zibanejad, but before Zibanejad ever had a chance to respond he was cut off by Kreider who stepped up to the mic instead.

To be clear the question directed at Zibanejad was a relatively tame one:

"From your perspective what did you see there? Anything you look back on in hindsight and say oh maybe I could of done this? Anything at all?" Zibanejad was asked.

Even before the question was finished, Kreider had already placed his hand on Zibanejad to signal that he would be taking this one.

"I gotta get the puck out, I'm puck watching," said Kreider putting the blame squarely on his own shoulders. "I should have came and planted, instead I'm filtering a little too far back to the net... if I'm planted it comes right to me, I put the puck on the ice and get it out."

Kreider would elaborate on some additional details of why he felt he was out of position and could have impacted the play had he been in the right spot, but the message was clear. Kreider didn't want any of his teammates being blamed for the loss and instead took that burden upon himself heading into Game 4.

The Rangers don't have an official captain, but this is exactly the kind of behavior you would expect of one.