Pregame Notes: Rangers at Maple Leafs

RANGERS RUNDOWN

• The New York Rangers head to Toronto for the regular season series finale against the Maple Leafs (7:00 PM ET - TV: MSG Network - Radio: ESPN 98.7 FM).
• The Blueshirts earned their 40th win of the season in game No. 60, tying the 1972-73 team for the fewest games required to reach the mark. The Rangers were the first team in the NHL to hit the 40-win total for the first time since 1993-94.
• New York has wins in 11 of its last 12 games and has points in 13 of its last 15 contests (12-2-1).
• The Blueshirts’ 40 wins are tied for the most in the NHL while their 83 points rank tied for third in the league.
• New York closed out the month of February with a 10-1-0 record and outscored opponents 40-22. In the month of March since 2020-21, the Blueshirts have posted 30 wins, the third most in the NHL (COL/VGK - 31).
• The Blueshirts have allowed only one goal in four of their last five games and have allowed either one or zero goals in a game a league-high 23 times this season. When allowing three goals or fewer in a game this season, the Rangers have a 36-2-2 record.
• On the road, the Rangers are 19-10-3 for 41 points and rank tied for second in road wins and tied for fourth in road points. New York has collected at least one point in seven of its last eight road contests (6-1-1). In addition, New York has won four of their last six games in Toronto.
• The Rangers have scored at least one goal in the second period in 10-straight games dating back to Feb. 7. The team’s plus-21 goal differential in the middle frame this season ranks first in the NHL.
• New York has the NHL’s sixth best power play percentage (25.0) and fourth best penalty kill percentage (83.1). The Blueshirts have six power play goals in their last seven games.
• New York has accumulated 149 points from defensemen this season, the third most in the NHL.
• The Blueshirts have 18 comeback wins this season, tied for the third most in the NHL and nine when trailing in the third period, tied for second in the league.
• New York has five players (Kreider, Zibanejad, Panarin, Trocheck, Fox) with 40 or more points and five players (Kreider, Panarin, Trocheck, Zibanejad, Lafreniere) with 15-plus goals, both tied for the second most in the NHL.
• In the last 28 games (since Dec. 27), Artemi Panarin (38 pts - 17G-21A) and Vincent Trocheck (28 pts - 12G-16A) have recorded a combined 66 points (29G-37A).
• When scoring first, the Blueshirts have 27 wins, 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 MAPLE LEAFS CONNECTIONS

• Blueshirts defenseman Erik Gustafsson skated in nine games for the Leafs last season, notching four assists.
• New York forward Jimmy Vesey played 30 games for Toronto in 2020-21, tallying seven points (5G-2A).
• Rangers forwards Will Cuylle and Barclay Goodrow are natives of Toronto.
• Maple Leafs forward Ryan Reaves played parts of two seasons with the Blueshirts (2021-22 – 2022-23), recording 13 points (5G-8A) in 81 games.
• Maple Leafs President Brendan Shanahan played two seasons with the Rangers (2006-07 and 2007-08).
• Maple Leafs forward William Nylander is the son of former Ranger Michael Nylander, who played two seasons with the Blueshirts (2005-06 and 2006-07)
• Rangers assistant coach Michael Peca played for the Maple Leafs for one season (2006-07).
• Rangers associate coach Phil Housley played his final NHL game with the Maple Leafs in the 2002-03 season.

PANARIN’S POINTS

Artemi Panarin has four three-point games in his last seven contests for a total of 14 points (4G-10A) over his last seven games.

He recorded his 80th point of the campaign on Wednesday, his fourth season with 80 or more points with New York. The only players with as many 80-point campaigns for the club are Mark Messier (5x) and Rod Gilbert (4x). He is also one of eight undrafted players who have debuted since the first NHL Draft in 1963 have recorded six or more 80-point seasons

His 35 goals are a career-high and his first goal of Wednesday’s contest was the 250th of his career. He has notched a point in 48 games this year, the third most in the NHL.

Panarin ranks tied for seventh in the NHL in goals (35) and tied for fifth in points (82).

NEXT ON FOX

Adam Fox scored his 10th goal of the season on Wednesday, making him the first Rangers defenseman since Brian Leetch (4 from 2000-01 – 2003-04) to record three straight 10-goal campaigns.

He has eight points (2G-6A) in his last seven games and 10 points (2G-8A) in his last nine games. He ranks seventh among NHL defensemen in points (48).

Since the 2019-20 season, Fox ranks fifth among NHL defensemen in points (283) and second in assists (237).

KREIDING HIGH

Chris Kreider has 30 goals this season, six in his last seven games and seven in his last nine games. He recorded his third consecutive 30-goal season and is the seventh Ranger to reach the feat (Phil Esposito - 4, Steve Vickers - 4, Mike Gartner - 3, Rod Gilbert- 3, Anders Hedberg - 3, Jean Ratelle - 3).

Since the 2021-22 season, Kreider’s 118 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 was named the NHL’s Third Star of the Month for February after he compiled a 7-0-0 record, .953 save percentage and 1.72 goals against average.

Shesterkin has earned points in nine of his last 10 starts and in his past four starts, he has allowed one goal in each of them (149-for-153).

Shesterkin’s 26 wins rank sixth in the NHL.

Since 2021-22, Shesterkin has allowed one or fewer goals when facing 40-plus shots on seven occasions, the second most in the NHL.

Jonathan Quick has won four of his last five starts, allowing two or fewer goals in three of them.

Quick holds a 13-5-2 record this season. His 13 wins tied 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).

SLAP SHOTS

• Alexis Lafreniere has five points in his last six games (3G-2A) and nine points (6G-3A) in his last 12 games. The Blueshirts are 15-0-0 when he scores a goal this season. Lafreniere’s 64 career goals are tied with Steve Vickers for the sixth most by a Rangers player age 22 or younger.
• Mika Zibanejad has scored the fourth most goals (45) and the eighth most points (92) in the month of March since 2017- 18.
• Vincent Trocheck ranks second in the NHL (min. 700 FO) in faceoff percentage (60.0) and has points in six of his last seven games (5G-4A).
• Will Cuylle ranks first among rookies and fifth in the NHL in hits with 198. He has a plus/minus rating of even or better in 49 of 60 games this season (49 games with a plus/minus rating of even or better are most on the Rangers and most among all NHL rookies).
• Jacob Trouba’s 166 blocked shots are the third most in the NHL. Trouba is the only player in the NHL to have 150+ blocked shots and 150+ hits.
• The Rangers have a regular season record of 45-11-6 when Kreider and Zibanejad score a goal in the same game.