Chris Kreider Gave Florida Fan a Souvenir: Matthew Tkachuk’s Mouthguard

There's nothing like going to an NHL game and leaving with a free souvenir in the form of a puck or even a stick – but a mouthpiece? I'll pass.

Still, one lucky (?) fan at Tuesday night's Game 4 between the New York Rangers and Florida Panthers caught Florida forward Matthew Tkachuk's mouthguard, and it was all thanks to Blueshirts forward Chris Kreider.

READ: NEW YORK RANGERS DRIVING MASSIVE VIEWERSHIP FOR STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS

The two teams are locked in a tight series, and it's no secret that Tkachuk is one of the best in the business at getting under opponents' skin and that's what he did to Kreider.

The Rat King (by the way, how perfect is that a dude known as "The Rat King" plays for the Panthers?) and Kreider came together early in the third period. Once they were separated, Kreider could be seen lobbing something over the glass and into the stands.

Sure looked like a mouthguard.

It isn't surprising that this would happen to Tkachuk of all players because he's known to have that little piece of chiclet-protecting rubber dangling out of his mouth more than it's in place.

It was just a matter of time before someone wound up with it in their hand.

I'd love to track down the fan who caught it, because what a range of emotions. On one hand, they now own the NHL's most famous mouthguard. On the other hand, no one wants to catch some dude's slimy mouthguard.

After the game, Kreider was asked about the incident, but he really played it down, and for good reason.

He's probably playing dumb because throwing any gear into the crowd is frowned upon. According to the NHL rulebook, it's grounds for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty under Rule 75.4 (ii) which states that "Any player who deliberately throws any equipment out of the playing area" will receive a misconduct penalty, and the on-ice officials can make that a game misconduct at their discretion. 

Kreider looks to have gotten away with one unless the league wants to lay down the law on things being thrown into the crowd and hands him a fine or something.

As for the game itself, the Panthers won in overtime (this was the third straight game in this series that went to OT) thanks to a goal from Sam Reinhart that evened the series at 2-2.

Game 5 is on Thursday at Madison Square Garden.

UPDATE: Matthew Tkachuk revealed that he got his mouthguard back and even offered a parting chirp at Kreider.