NEW YORK — The much-heralded returns to Madison Square Garden for both Chris Kreider and Jacob Trouba largely came and went on Monday night in the Anaheim Ducks’ 4-1 win over the New York Rangers. There were the obligatory tribute videos — some of them were even televised in full — as well a s the media hoopla both before and after the game, which saw Kreider draw most of the reporter attention in the hallway just outside the visitor’s locker room after he was kept off the scoresheet entirely in 18:24 worth of ice time. Inside that mostly otherwise empty room, however, sat Radko Gudas. In the back right corner, slowly removing his skates, and a jersey that’s had the “C’ stitched onto it since the start of last season for a Ducks team that might just be giving him visions of being the first to lift a Stanley Cup. Are they realistically there yet? Probably not, at least not in comparison to the more fully-loaded teams in the West like just-restocked Minnesota Wild, Colorado Avalanche or Dallas Stars. But after Monday’s win, they’re not only one of the best stories in the league, they’re now tied with the also-loaded up Vegas Golden Knights for the lead in the Pacific Division standings. And there’s enough on the roster to start taking them seriously. “I think we’ve got a good cut through all the ages of the locker room,” Gudas said. “We have some very talented young guys that are not afraid to make plays, and they’re eager to get better and they’re eager to learn.  Sometimes the questions we (veterans) get are pretty funny, but that’s part of the learning process and part of the growth as players, and they make mistakes sometimes too. “But it’s a game of mistakes, so we the older guys, we’re all there for each other to address those things, and we’re usually pretty quick to address the things that are going sideways for us. We believe in the coaching staff that keeps us on our toes all the time, and we’re trying to be there for all of them and work for the coach, work for the older guys. But tonight was ‘Troubs’ and ‘Kreids’ night, and I’m really happy for the two points for us.” A lot to take in there, to be sure. But in short, the Ducks have the pieces to, at minimum, be one of the most entertaining teams to watch this season. As Gudas alluded to, the mix is somewhat of a fascinating one; 20-year Leo Carlsson currently leads the team in scoring with 41 points and 21-year-old Cutter Gauthier, who scored twice at MSG, has 18 goals on the season, tops on the Ducks. Alongside other standouts like Mason McTavish (22), Jackson LaCombe (24), Calder Trophy candidate Bennett Sennecke (19), Olen Zellweger (22) and potential franchise goalie Lukas Dostal (25), and Anaheim has a fascinating young core. However, with veterans like Gudas (35), Kreider (34), Trouba (31) and those somewhere inbetween like skilled forward Troy Terry (28) and all the ingredients would seem to be there for a team that could surprise some people in the postseason. After coming into Madison Square Garden and dominating a resurgent Rangers team, there’s no reason to think otherwise. “Anaheim hasn’t had the best success in this building, and we had a couple guys that had played for New York with ‘Troubs’ and Chris who are coming in and spent the majority of their career here,” Gudas said. “It was a big, emotional game for us and I thought the guys battled for each other and the guys were there for each other, and we needed that especially after the last two games where we weren’t at our best…I thought we matched their eagerness, and I thought maybe we were a little hungrier in some places, and that worked in our favor. We’re happy with those two points.” ...read more read less