Pregame Notes: Rangers at Devils

RANGERS RUNDOWN

• The New York Rangers head to New Jersey to face the Devils and look to continue their winning ways (7:00 PM ET - TV: MSGSN - Radio: ESPN 1050 AM). Tonight concludes a stretch of five games that the Rangers played either in New York or New Jersey.
• New York has wins in eight-straight games, its longest streak since 2015-16 (9 GP), and points in 10 of its last 11 games (9-1-1).
• The Blueshirts’ 37 wins are tied for the most in the NHL and their 77 points rank tied for third in the league. Since January 27, the Rangers lead the NHL in wins, points, and second in goals per game (4.25).
• The Blueshirts have points in five-straight road games (4-0-1), including wins in three-straight road contests. New York’s 17 road wins rank tied for fourth in the NHL.
• New York has the NHL’s fifth best (tied) power play percentage (26.0) and seventh best penalty kill percentage (82.3). The Blueshirts have four power play goals in their last three games.
• On the road against New Jersey, the Rangers have points in eight of their last 10 contests (7-2-1).
• The Blueshirts have 18 comeback wins this season and nine when trailing in the third period, both tied for first in the NHL.
• In the second period, the Rangers’ plus-18 goal differential ranks tied for third in the league.
• New York has six players (Kreider, Zibanejad, Panarin, Trocheck, Fox, Lafreniere) with 30 or more points and four players (Kreider, Panarin, Trocheck, Zibanejad) with 15-plus goals, tied for the fourth most in the NHL.
• In the last 24 games (since Dec. 27), Artemi Panarin (31 pts) and Vincent Trocheck (24 pts) have recorded a combined 55 points (25G-30A).
• When allowing three goals or fewer in a game this season, the Rangers have a 33-2-2 record.
• The Rangers’ 53.6 faceoff percentage is the fifth highest in the NHL. Since 1997-98 when the league started tracking FOW%, the team hasn’t finished a season over 53.3 percent.
• New York has accumulated 142 points from defensemen this season, the third most in the NHL.
• When scoring first, the Blueshirts have 24 wins, tied for the second most in the NHL.
• The Rangers’ .875 win percentage (7-1) in five-minute overtime session ranks first in the league.

RANGERS AND DEVILS CONNECTIONS

• Devils head coach Lindy Ruff played for the Rangers from 1988-89 - 1990-91 and was an assistant coach with the Blueshirts from 2017-2020.
• Jimmy Vesey played in 68 games with the Devils in 2021-22, recording eight goals and seven assists for 15 points.
• Brendan Smith played parts of five seasons with the Rangers, tallying 43 points (14G-29A) in 235 games.
• Rangers associate coach Phil Housley played in 22 games for the Devils during the 1995-96 season.

THE GREAT EIGHT

The Rangers are currently riding an eight-game win streak, tied for the fourth longest in team history and longest since 2015-16.

PANARIN’S POINTS

Artemi Panarin tied his career-high in goals (32) when he scored the overtime winner in the Stadium Series. He has seven points in his last three contests (1G-6A), points in eight of his last 11 games (5G-9A) and 25 points in his last 21 games (9G-16A). He has notched a point in 45 games this year, the second most in the NHL.

Panarin ranks tied for sixth in the NHL in goals (32) and tied for fifth in points (75). His 43 assists rank tied for 12th in the NHL.

He has reached 30 goals in a season for the fourth time in his career and is the only active undrafted player to accomplish the feat.

NEXT ON FOX

Adam Fox has seven points (1G-6A) in his last three games and nine points (1G-8A) in his last five games. He also has points in nine of his last 12 games (2G-14A). Despite missing 10 games with injury, he ranks seventh among NHL defensemen in points (46).

His next goal would make him the first Rangers defenseman since Brian Leetch (4 from 2000-01 – 2003-04) to record three straight 10-goal campaigns.

With his 40th point of the season, he joined Phil Housley (1982-83 to 1992-93), Mark Howe (1979-80 to 1987-88) and Gary Suter (1985-86 to 1992-93) as the fourth U.S.-born defenseman to record at least 40 points in each of his first five seasons. He

Fox recorded his 30th assist of the season on Feb. 9 at Chicago and became the sixth player, second defenseman, in Rangers history to record 30 assists in each of his first five seasons with the franchise, joining Mark Messier (6), Phil Goyette (6), Artemi Panarin (5), Reijo Ruotsalainen (5) and Phil Esposito (5).

Since the 2019-20 season, Fox ranks fifth among NHL defensemen in points (281) and second in assists (236).

KREIDING HIGH

Chris Kreider has 28 goals this season, four in his last three games and five in his last five games. He has points in 10 of his last 14 contests (8G-8A) and 12 of his last 17 games (8G-10A).

Since the 2021-22 season, Kreider’s 116 goals rank sixth in the NHL and in that same time frame, his 45 power play goals rank third.

This season, Kreider has changed the Rangers record books:

• Surpassed Adam Graves for the third most goals in Rangers history (281)
• Surpassed Adam Graves for the 10th most points in team history (508)
• Recorded his 500th career point
• Surpassed Camille Henry for the fourth most road goals in franchise history (137) - Tied Bill Cook for the third most game-winning goals in franchise history (42)
• Became the fifth Ranger to tally 100 career power play goals
• Recorded his 166th career goal at MSG (regular season and playoffs) to surpass Rod Gilbert for the most in the building’s history
• Notched his ninth 20-goal campaign in his career. Only two players in franchise history have recorded as many: Rod Gilbert (12x) and Jean Ratelle (9x).

NEW YORK NETMINDERS

Igor Shesterkin has 23 win on the season, has won four starts, and has earned points in six of his last seven starts. Shesterkin has allowed two or fewer goals in 17 of his 23 wins. Shesterkin’s 23 wins rank sixth in the NHL.

Since 2021-22, Shesterkin has allowed one or fewer goals when facing 40-plus shots on five occasions, tied for the second most in the NHL.
Jonathan Quick has won four-straight starts, allowing two or fewer goals in three of them. Quick is the oldest goaltender in franchise history with a three-or-more game winning streak and the second active netminder with a run of that length at age 38 or older, joining Marc-Andre Fleury (7 GP & 3 GP in 2022-23).

Quick holds a 13-4-2 record this season. Among goaltenders with 18 or more starts, he ranks third in goals-against average (2.36) and tied for sixth in save percentage (.917). His 13 wins tie Dave Kerr, Lorn Chabot and Igor Shesterkin for the most wins through 20 career games with the Rangers.

He is one win away from tying Dominik Hasek for 15th most in NHL history (389) and three wins from tying Ryan Miller for the most wins among American-born goaltenders (391).

FORECHECK, BACKCHECK, TROCHECK

Vincent Trocheck ranks first in the NHL (min. 700 FO) in faceoff percentage (61.2) and is the only player in the NHL to have 45 or more points, 60 or more hits, and 40 or more blocked shots.

Trocheck has five points in his last three games (4G-1A) and 19 points in his last 20 games (10G-9A).

SLAP SHOTS

• Mika Zibanejad has points in four of his last five games (3G-3A), nine points (3G-6A) in his last eight games, and points in 10 of his last 14 games (4G-10A) .
• Will Cuylle ranks first among rookies and tied for fifth in the NHL in hits with 180. He has a plus/minus rating of even or better in 46 of 56 games this season (46 games with a plus/minus rating of even or better are most on the Rangers and most among all NHL rookies).
• Jacob Trouba’s 155 blocked shots are the third most in the NHL. Trouba is the only player in the NHL to have 125+ blocked shots and 125+ hits.
• Kaapo Kakko has a point streak of five games (2G-3A), tying his career long stretch (Nov. 14-24, 2021). - Alexis Lafreniere has six points (3G-3A) in his last eight games.
• Jonny Brodzinski has points in four of his last six games (2G-2A) and has six points in his last eight games (3G-3A). His four goals match a career-high originally set in 2017-18 with Los Angeles.
• The Rangers have a regular season record of 44-11-6 when Kreider and Zibanejad score a goal in the same game.