Pregame Notes: Rangers at Capitals

RANGERS RUNDOWN

• The New York Rangers head to the nation’s capital for a Saturday night matchup against the Washington Capitals (7:00 PM ET - TV: MSG Network - Radio: ESPN 98.7 FM). The Rangers begin their third set of back-to-backs tonight and thus far are 2-0 in both the first half and second half of back-to-back games.
• The Blueshirts’ 18 wins are the most in the NHL and their 37 points are tied for the second. New York’s .771 points percentage is tied for the league lead with Boston.
• Following a loss, the Rangers are 5-0-0 and have outscored opponents 15-7 in those five games.
• New York has wins in three of his last four games, in 10 of its last 13 games and points in 17 of its last 20 games (16-3-1).
• Seven different Rangers (Fox, Gustafsson, Kreider, Lafrenière, Panarin, Trocheck, Zibanejad) have 15-plus points this season, tied for the third largest amount in the NHL (DAL - 9, CAR - 8).
• Tonight, Adam Fox is set to play in his 300th career NHL game.
• The Rangers have the best faceoff percentage in the NHL with a 56.1 percent mark and have been over 50 percent in the faceoff circle in 20 of 24 games. Since 1997-98 when the league started tracking FOW%, the team hasn’t finished a season over 53.3 percent.
• In the past four games, Artemi Panarin and Vincent Trocheck have combined for 14 points (6G-8A).
• The Rangers have the NHL’s third best power play percentage (29.7) and have scored power play goals in 18 of their first 24 games. The team’s 22 power play goals this year are tied for the fifth most in the NHL.
• This season, New York is 9-3-0 against Eastern Conference opponents and 5-1-0 against Metropolitan Division rivals.
• The Rangers’ defensemen have accounted for 66 points, the fifth most in the NHL.
• New York has a league-high (tied) nine comeback wins, and five after trailing in the third period - tied for the second most in the NHL.
• The Blueshirts are 13-2-1 when scoring the first goal of the game, tied for the most such wins in the league. New York is 9-1-1 when leading after two periods and 7-0-0 when tied after two frames.
• The Rangers are 9-0-1 in one-goal games, the most such wins in the NHL.
• When outshooting their opponents, the Blueshirts are 12-1-0, the second most wins in the league.

RANGERS AND CAPITALS CONNECTIONS

• Rangers defenseman Erik Gustafsson played in 61 games for the Capitals in 2022-23, recording seven goals and 31 assists for 38 points and a plus-9 rating.
• Rangers head coach Peter Laviolette coached the Capitals from 2020-21 to 2022-23, making the playoffs in two of three seasons.
• Capitals goaltender Charlie Lindgren is the brother of Rangers defenseman Ryan Lindgren
• Capitals forward Sonny Milano was born in Massapequa, NY
• Rangers associate coach Phil Housley played parts of two seasons for the Capitals (1996-97 – 1997-98).

ROAD WARRIORS

New York was the first club to record 10 road wins when it defeated Nashville last Saturday. It marked the fewest games needed (13 GP) to reach 10 road wins in franchise history.

KREIDING TO MAKE HISTORY

Chris Kreider is one point from 500 in his career, one goal from matching Adam Graves for the third most in team history (280), and one power play goal from becoming the fifth player in franchise history to reach 100 PPGs.

With his point, Kreider would become the 12th player to record 500 points with the franchise and the eighth skater from the 2009 NHL Entry Draft class to reach it.

Kreider has 14 goals on the season, ranking tied for the ninth most in the league and has 16 points in his last 17 games (9G-7A).

Only 14 active players have 100 or more career power play goals.

His nine shorthanded goals since 2021-22 are the most in the NHL while his 41 power play goals in that span are the second most. In addition, his nine career SHGs rank tied for ninth with Mika Zibanejad for the most in team history.

PANARIN ON A PATH

Artemi Panarin has 37 points (16G-21A) on the season and has notched a point in 20 of his 24 games this year. Panarin ranks third in the NHL in points, tied for fourth in goals, tied for 12th in assists, and tied for fourth in power play points (15).

Panarin leads the league with 13 multi-point games and since 2015-16, his 194 multi-point games rank sixth in the league.

Ahead of his 615th NHL game, Panarin sits two points away from 700 in his career. In NHL history, 37 players have reached the 700 point milestone in fewer than 615 games.

Panarin is also the first Ranger with 15+ goals and 20+ assists within the team’s first 25 games of a season since all three members of the ‘G-A-G Line’ (Hadfield, Ratelle, Gilbert) in 1971-72.

BACK IN THE FOX HOLE

Tonight, Adam Fox is set to play in his 300th career game. Among NHL defensemen, his 212 assists are the sixth most through the first 300 games of a career while his 251 points are the 14th most.

In his four games since returning from injury, Adam Fox has tallied five assists, giving him points in 11 of his 14 contests this season (3G-13A).

Since his rookie season in 2019-20, Fox has been one of the best defensemen in the NHL.

MIKA’S MISSION

Mika Zibanejad has points in eight-straight games (4G-6A), tied for the second longest of his career.

SLAP SHOTS

• Jacob Trouba’s 81 blocked shots are the second most in the NHL. He has points in four of his last six games (1G-4A) and is one point away from 300 in his career. He would be the third defenseman from the 2012 NHL Draft to notch the feat.
• Vincent Trocheck has points in 10 of his past 14 games (5G-14A). Trocheck’s 22 points on the year (6G-16A) are tied for the second most on the Blueshirts. Among NHL skaters with 300 or more faceoffs, Trocheck ranks first in faceoff percentage (63.3).
• Alexis Lafreniere has four assists in his last four games. Last week, he recorded his 50th career assist. Among players to debut with the Rangers in the past 20 years, he became the sixth to hit the milestone at age 22 or younger. He joined Kaapo Kakko (Feb. 17, 2023), Filip Chytil (April 13, 2022), Derek Stepan (Feb. 11, 2012), Michael Del Zotto (Dec. 17, 2011) and Brandon Dubinsky (March 5, 2009).
• K’Andre Miller has four goals in his last six games and five total points in that span (4G-1A). His four goals since Nov. 25 are the most among NHL defensemen over the span.
• Erik Gustafsson has 11 points (1G-10A) in last 13 games. His 15 points (3G-12A) this season rank second among Rangers defensemen.
• Nick Bonino ranks first among forwards with 53 blocked shots and since 2021-22, Bonino leads all forwards in blocked shots with 234.
• Will Cuylle ranks first among rookies in hits with 60.
• The Rangers have a regular season record of 40-11-6 when Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad score a goal in the same game.