"There's no doubt that since I put that line (Kreider-Stepan-Fast) together it's been very effective against the other team's good players," Vigneault said.
A big reason for that is Fast, who created the turnover that led to defenseman Ryan McDonagh's overtime goal in Game 5 against Washington.
As usual, Fast was in the right place to make a play. He had good enough hand-eye coordination to knock down Curtis Glencross' pass in the neutral zone, took the puck into the offensive zone, feathered a pass across the ice to Stepan, who faked a shot and passed it back to McDonagh for a one-timer that beat goalie Braden Holtby.
Fast got an assist on that play, and had one on the Rangers' first goal in Game 6, when he noticed Kreider ready to bust out of the zone and smartly chipped the puck up the ice and off the right-wing wall, letting Kreider chase it down and go in 1-on-1 against defenseman Matt Niskanen.