Pregame Notes: Rangers at Flyers

RANGERS RUNDOWN

• The New York Rangers close out their four-game road stretch with a Black Friday matinee against the Philadelphia Flyers at the Wells Fargo Center (1:00 PM ET - TV: MSG Network/NHL Network - Radio: ESPN 1050 AM).
• The Blueshirts hit Thanksgiving tied for the third most points (27) and wins (13) in the NHL. Its .794 points percentage is second in the league behind Boston’s .861 mark.
• The Rangers have wins in five of their last six games and points in 12 of their last 13 games (11-1-1).
• The Rangers have points in nine of 11 road games this season (8-2-1) including in eight of their past nine. On the road, the Rangers have the most points (17) in the NHL and are tied for the most wins (8).
• Today, Rangers head coach Peter Laviolette will coach in his 1,448th game, tying Dick Irvin for the 10th most in NHL history.
• The Rangers begin their first back-to-back set of the season and play in their first day game of the year. Last year, the Blueshirts were 10-4-2 in the first half of back-to-backs and 7-5-3 in day games. New York is one of four teams to not have played in a back-to-back so far this season.
• The Blueshirts have the allowed the second fewest GA/GP (2.29) in the NHL and the second fewest total goals (39) in the league.
• New York has earned a point in eight-straight games against the Flyers (7-0-1) and 11 of its last 13 games against them (9-2-2).
• On the year, New York is 6-1-0 against Eastern Conference opponents and 4-1-0 against Metropolitan Division teams.
• The Rangers have the second best faceoff percentage in the NHL with a 54.8 percent mark. New York has been over 50 percent in the faceoff circle in 13 of 17 games.
• The Rangers have the NHL’s third best power play percentage (30.9) and have scored power play goals in 13 of their first 17 games. The Rangers’ 17 power play goals are the fifth most in the league.
• The Blueshirts are one of two NHL teams (STL) that have won a game in which they have scored 1 goal (1x), 2 goals (2x), 3 goals (3x), 4 goals (4x), and 5 goals (3x) this season.
• New York has seven players (Kreider, Fox, Gustafsson, Lafreniere, Panarin, Trocheck, Zibanejad) with 10 or more points, tied for the seventh most in the NHL. Panarin and Kreider have 10 goals, making the Blueshirts are one of three teams to have multiple 10-goal scorers. Others: Vancouver and Toronto.
• New York are 10-2-1 when scoring the first goal of the game, tied for the most such wins in the NHL.

RANGERS AND FLYERS CONNECTIONS

• Rangers head coach Peter Laviolette was the head coach of the Flyers from 2009-10 to 2013-14, leading the team to a Stanley Cup Final appearance in 2010.
• Flyers head coach John Tortorella was head coach of the Rangers from 2008-09 to 2012-13.
• Marc Staal skated in 13 seasons for the Blueshirts, recording 188 points (43G-145A) in 892 games. Staal has played in the second most (tied) playoff games in Rangers history (107 GP).
• Erik Gustafsson played in 24 games for the Flyers in 2020-21, recording 10 points (1G-9A).
• Tyler Pitlick skated in 63 games with Philadelphia in 2019-20, notching eight goals and 12 assists for 20 points.

RANGERS SINCE OCTOBER 21

Heading into a five-game west coast trip beginning on October 21, the Rangers were 2-2-0 and coming off a 4-1 loss on October 19 to the Predators on home ice.

Since then, the Blueshirts have responded with a 11-1-1 record for 23 points and in that span have put up some of the best numbers in the NHL.

NEW YORK NETMINDERS

As a team, the Blueshirts have the third highest save percentage in the NHL (.920) and second lowest GAA (2.25).

Igor Shesterkin has a 7-3-0 record on the year. Since the 2021-22 season, Igor Shesterkin leads the NHL with 80 wins and among goalies with 100 or more games, ranks first in save percentage (.924) and GAA (2.31).

Jonathan Quick is 5-0-1 to start 2023-24 and is the second Rangers netminder to begin his tenure by earning a point in his first six decisions, joining Eddie Mio in 1981-82 (5-0-2 in 7 GP). He has allowed one or fewer goals in three of those six starts. Among NHL goaltenders who have made six or more starts this season, Quick ranks first in save percentage (.940) and first in GAA (1.68). In addition, he is one of six goaltenders with multiple shutouts this season.

PANARIN ON A PATH

On Monday night in Dallas, Artemi Panarin went without a point for the first time all season. His point streak ended with a franchise record season-opening mark of 15 games (10G-16A) and it was the longest point streak of his career. His streak was the longest for a Ranger since Wayne Gretzky (15 GP) in 1996-97 and tied for the third longest in franchise history.

Panarin also had multiple points in five-straight contests, the first Rangers skater with at least five straight multi-point games since Jaromir Jagr (6 GP in 2005-06).

Panarin ranks among the best in the NHL in multiple categories.

KREIDING HIGH

Chris Kreider has 10 goals on the season and has tied Vic Hadfield (11 from 1963-64 – 1973-74) for the second-most consecutive 10-goal campaigns by a Rangers skater. Only Rod Gilbert (15 from 1962-63 – 1976-77) has more.

Kreider has points in seven of his last 10 games (5G-4A).

Kreider has surpassed Andy Bathgate for the fourth most goals in team history (273) and is five goals away from matching Adam Graves for the third most in team history (280).

Kreider sits two power play goals away from becoming the fifth player in franchise history to reach 100 PPGs.

His eight shorthanded goals since 2021-22 are the most in the NHL while his 40 power play goals in that span are the second most.

SLAP SHOTS

• Alexis Lafreniere has four goals in his last five games and eight on the season - the third most on New York. His six goals at five-on-five are the second on the team behind Panarin’s seven.
• Erik Gustafsson has points in six of his past seven contests (1G-7A). His 12 points (3G-9A) rank fourth on the Rangers and first among New York defensemen.
• Vincent Trocheck has points in six of his past seven games (4G-7A). Trocheck’s 15 points on the year (5G-10A) are tied for the second most on the Blueshirts. Among NHL skaters with 250 or more faceoffs, Trocheck ranks first in faceoff percentage (62.5).
• Jacob Trouba’s 61 blocked shots are the second most in the NHL.
• Nick Bonino ranks first among forwards with 45 blocked shots and since 2021-22, Bonino leads all forwards in blocked shots with 226.
• Will Cuylle ranks first among rookies in hits with 44.
• Among skaters with 50 or more total SH TOI, Ryan Lindgren’s 4.71 PP GA/60 ranks ninth in the NHL.