RANGERS RUNDOWN
- The New York Rangers continue their three-game road trip and complete their seventh back-to-back of the season with a Sunday night matchup against the Chicago Blackhawks at United Center (7:30 PM ET - TV: ESPN - Radio: ESPN 98.7 FM).
- The Blueshirts have won a season-long six games in a row and are 7-1-1 over their last nine games. A win tonight would match their longest streak last season (7 GP) which was reached with a win over the Blackhawks in Chicago on December 7, 2021.
- The Rangers have won four of their last five games against the Blackhawks dating back to January 2019.
- On the road, the Blueshirts are 10-4-1 for 21 points, the fourth most road wins in the NHL. New York has earned a point in 10 of its last 12 games (9-2-1) away from home.
- The Rangers' penalty kill has been perfect in their last three games (6-for-6). On the road this season, New York's 86.5 penalty kill percentage (32-for-37) is the highest in the league.
- The Rangers have allowed the second fewest goals per game on the road in the NHL with a 2.33 GA/GP.
- The Blueshirts have 10 players with five goals this season, tied for the second most amount in the NHL. Five Rangers have 20 or more points this year (Zibanejad, Fox, Panarin, Kreider, Trocheck), tied for the sixth most in the NHL.
- New York ranks third in the NHL in hits with 911.
- The Rangers defensemen group has collected 75 points, tied for the fourth most in the NHL. New York's 58 assists by defensemen are tied for the fifth most in the league while their 17 goals are tied for the fourth most.
Pregame Notes: Rangers at Blackhawks - 12.18.22
RANGERS AND BLACKHAWK CONNECTIONS
RANGERS ON A ROLL
New York's season-high win streak sits at six games, tying their third longest streak since the 2015-16 season. In that span, this is the Rangers' fifth win streak of six or more games.
Since December 5, the date the streak started, the Rangers rank tied for first in wins (6), first in PP% (45.5), third in PK% (88.2), and fourth in goals (25).
SHESTERKIN IN NET
Igor Shesterkin is 15-4-4 on the season, his 15 wins are tied for the second most in the NHL. Shesterkin is 5-0-1 in his last six starts with a .930 save percentage and 2.10 GAA. Shesterkin has allowed one goal or fewer in three of his last four games.
On the road, Shesterkin is 8-0-1. There have been 11 goalies in NHL history who have recorded a point in at least 10 of their first road starts in a season. (Pyotr Kochetkov of the Hurricanes has an active run of 10 such games this season).
Two Rangers have done this: Dave Kerr in 1939-40 (11 games) and John Ross Roach in 1931-32 (10 games).
TROCHECK-ING THE BOX SCORE
Vincent Trocheck has eight points (2G-6A) in his last six games.
He is one of only two NHL players who have registered 20+ points and 80+ hits this season (along with Alex Ovechkin). In 29 of 32 games this season, Trocheck has had either 1+ points, 3+ hits, or a 50.0%+ faceoff win percentage; he has hit two of the three categories in 17 of the 32 games, and he hit all three categories in the same game three times (Dec. 15 vs. TOR, Dec. 5 vs. STL, Nov. 8 vs. NYI).
PANARIN PUTTING UP POINTS
Artemi Panarin has points in seven of his last eight games (1G-11A) and multi-point games in four of his last seven contests.
Panarin became the fourth player in the NHL this season to reach 30 assists (32 GP). He is already just the fifth Rangers player in the past 30 years to reach the mark in as many games (also 29 GP in 2020-21). The others: Jaromir Jagr (30 GP in 2006-07), Brian Leetch (29 GP in 2000-01), Sergei Zubov (31 GP in 1993-94) and Mark Messier (28 GP in 1992-93).
Since December 2, Panarin's 10 assists are tied for the fourth most in the NHL.
Panarin has points in 10 of his last 12 games (2G-13A), 25 points in his last 24 games (3G-22A) and 37 points (7G-30A) in 32 games this season.
MIKA'S MISSION
Mika Zibanejad sits one point away from 400 as a New York Ranger. With his latest point on December 17 at Philadelphia, he passed Anders Hedberg for 18th place on the franchise's all-time points list, as well as passed Hedberg for the most points by a European born and trained player in franchise history. If Zibanejad records his 400th point with NYR in his 436th game, he would have required the fifth-fewest games to reach the mark with the franchise, behind Mark Messier (322 GP), Brian Leetch (380 GP), Phil Esposito (405 GP) and Andy Bathgate (423 GP).
Zibanejad has a team leading 15 goals this season and 10 on the power play. He has points in eight of his last 10 games (5G-7A), 13 of his last 16 games (6G-11A) and in 20 of his last 24 contests (11G-16A).
WHAT DOES THE FOX SAY?
Adam Fox has seven goals and 24 assists for 31 points this season. He has points in five of his last eight games (1G-5A), seven of his last 11 games (1G-7A), nine of his last 14 games (2G-9A), and 16 of his last 21 games (5G-17A). Fox has recorded at least one point in 22 of 32 games this year.
When Fox records multiple points, the Rangers are 6-0-0.
Fox has skated over 20:00 minutes in every game this season, over 25 minutes in 15 contests and his season-high was 30:04 against the Devils on Nov. 28.
KREIDING TO MAKE HISTORY
Chris Kreider has 14 goals on the year, including seven in his last 13 games. Kreider has points in 17 of his last 24 games (12G- 8A) and nine points (7G-2A) in his last 13 games.
Kreider has 36 career game-winning goals, tied him with Adam Graves for the seventh most in franchise history.
In addition, Kreider has 87 career go-ahead goals, the sixth most in Rangers history behind only Rod Gilbert (131), Jean Ratelle (96), Camille Henry (90), Vic Hadfield (90) and Adam Graves (89).
BLUESHIRT BULLETS
- Braden Schneider's four goals since November 22 are tied for the most among NHL defensemen in that span.
- Jacob Trouba has 101 hits and 80 blocked shots. He is the only player in the NHL with both 100+ hits and 75+ blocked shots. Trouba ranks eighth in the NHL in hits and second in blocked shots.
- K'Andre Miller has points in five of his last six games (2G-5A). Since December 5, Miller's seven points are tied for the second most among NHL defensemen. Miller's 28 takeaways this year are the second most for a defensemen.
- Sammy Blais ranks third in the NHL (min. 25 games played) in hits per 60 (20.71).
- Among players who have skated in 20 games this year, Julien Gauthier ranks second in penalties drawn/60 (2.65).
SPECIAL TEAMS
- The Rangers have scored on the power play in five of their last seven games and six of their last 10 contests.
- The Blueshirts have scored multiple power play goals in five games this season.
