RANGERS RUNDOWN
- The New York Rangers finish off the second half of back-to-back with a visit to Buffalo to play the Sabres (7:00 PM ET - TV: MSGSN, NHL Network - Radio: ESPN 1050 AM). The Blueshirts have seven more games left in the regular season (three at home, four on road).
- The Blueshirts clinched a spot in the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs on Monday night, the 62nd time in team history the they have made the postseason. New York's 14 playoff appearances since the 2005-06 season are tied for the second most in the NHL.
- With a win, the Rangers will reach the 100-point mark for the 12th time in team history and second consecutive year.
- New York has points in 10 of its last 12 games (9-2-1) and wins in seven of its last nine contests.
- The Rangers have points in five of their last six road games (4-1-1) and have points in 16 of their last 20 contests (11-4- 5) away from MSG. In the NHL, the Blueshirts' .676 road point percentage ranks seventh and 2.54 GA/GP is third in the league.
- Since December 5, New York is 33-11-5 for 71 points. In the NHL in that span, the Rangers rank second in points, points percentage (.724), tied for second in wins, third in goals per game (3.55), and fourth in power play percentage (24.5).
- Mika Zibanejad and Artemi Panarin are the third pair of teammates in Rangers history to simultaneously post consecutive 80-point campaigns following Rod Gilbert and Steve Vickers (1974-75 - 1975-76) as well as Gilbert and Jean Ratelle (1971-72 - 1972-73).
- New York is currently riding a 11-game point streak against the Sabres (10-0-1) and are 13-2-1 in its last 16 contests against them.
- With a 2.67 mark, the Rangers have allowed the fifth fewest goals against per game in the NHL.
- The Blueshirts have 21 comeback victories this season, tied for the third most in the NHL. New York is 15-2-5 when tied after two periods - their 15 wins are the most in the NHL.
- New York's plus-23 goal differential in the third period ranks fourth in the NHL.
- The Blueshirts have scored 28 goals over their last seven games and four or more goals in six of their last nine contests. When scoring four or more goals, New York is 30-0-0 and the only team in the NHL to have a perfect such record.
- For the fourth time (2022-23, 2015-16, 2010-11 and 2006-07) in the past 20 years, the Rangers have five different 20-plus goal scorers (Panarin, Zibanejad, Chytil, Trocheck, Kreider).
- The Rangers defensemen group has compiled 181 points, tied for the third most in the NHL.
Pregame Notes: Rangers at Sabres - 03.31.23
RANGERS AND SABRES CONNECTIONS
MIKA MARCH
Mika Zibanejad has established a career-high of 82 points this season (38G-44A). He becomes the fourth Rangers player in the past 25 years to record consecutive 80-point seasons. The others: Artemi Panarin (2021-22 - 2022-23), Jaromir Jagr (2005-06 - 2006-07) and Wayne Gretzky (1996-97 - 1997-98).
Zibanejad has multi-point games in three of his last six contests, 14 points in his last nine games (6G-8A), 22 points in his last 17 (8G-14A) and 33 points in his last 26 games (16G-17A).
Tonight is the Rangers' final game in March, a month that Zibanejad has thrived in over his career, totaling 132 points (63G-69A) in 155 games played.
Among NHL forwards, Zibanejad is one of three that has a plus-25 rating or better and 80-plus points this year (Pastrnak, Robertson).
Zibanejad has tallied 19 of his goals on the power play, a new career-high for him and the third most in the NHL. With one more power play goal, the Rangers will become the first team since the 1992-93 & 1993-94 Boston Bruins to have a different player score 20+ power-play goals in back-to-back seasons as Kreider had 20+ last year.
KANE YOU BELIEVE IT?
On Saturday night in Florida, Patrick Kane scored his 450th career goal and 20th goal of the season. Kane recorded his 15th season with 20 or more goals which trails only Alex Ovechkin (18x) for the most among active players.
With 1,234 points in his NHL career, Kane has the second most in NHL history among U.S.-born players.
PANARIN'S POINTS
Artemi Panarin scored his 25th goal of the season on Tuesday night against the Blue Jackets. He has points in six of his last nine games (5G-6A) and 11 of his last 16 games (7G-12A), including six multi-point efforts. Panarin has reached the 80-point plateau for the fifth time in his career.
In the NHL this season, Panarin's 14 multi-assist games rank tied for ninth and since 2019-20, Panarin's 63 multi-assist games are the second most in the NHL.
KREIDING TO MAKE HISTORY
Chris Kreider scored his 262nd career goal last night, tying Vic Hadfield for the fifth most in Rangers history. Kreider has six goals in his last 10 games and 33 goals on the season, making him just the third Rangers skater in the past 25 years to post consecutive 30-goal campaigns, joining Mika Zibanejad (2 from 2018-19 - 2019-20) and Jaromir Jagr (2 from 2005-06 - 2006-07).
Kreider has three game-winning goals this season and 37 game-winning goals in his career, tied with Brian Leetch for the sixth most in franchise history.
Kreider has points in 10 of his last 15 games (9G-3A).
ADAM'S APPLES
Adam Fox has points in seven of his last nine games (1G-7A) and nine of his last 12 games (1G-9A). He has 56 assists on the season, the third most among NHL defensemen.
When he records multiple points, the Rangers are 14-0-0.
Fox has 12 career game-winning goal, tied with Ott Heller, Dan Girardi and Harry Howell for fifth place on the Rangers' all-time list among defensemen.
Fox is the seventh defenseman in NHL history and first in franchise history to record multiple 50-assist seasons in the first four years of a career. Fox is the second defenseman in Rangers history with consecutive 50-assist seasons, joining Brian Leetch (1990-91-1991-92 & 1995-96-1996-97) and overall he is now the ninth different Rangers player to record 50+ assists in consecutive seasons.
FOUR MORE YEARS OF FIL
On Wednesday night, Filip Chytil signed a four-year extension with the Rangers through the 2026-27 season. Chytil, 23, has recorded a career-high in goals (22), assists (20) and points (42) this season while skating in 67 games for the Blueshirts. Among NHL centers 23 years or younger, he ranks tied for fifth in goals. He is the seventh Rangers player in the past 20 years to record a 20-goal season at age 23 or younger. Among all NHL players who average 15 minutes or less of ice time this season, he ranks tied first in points and second in goals
Chytil has skated in 320 games with the Rangers across parts of six seasons, tallying 64 goals and 71 assists for 135 points and seven power play goals. He has posted three 10-plus goal seasons and has 20 or more points in five seasons. Among players selected in the 2017 NHL Draft, Chytil ranks seventh in goals and 10th in points. Chytil's 320 games played before turning 24 is the second most for a Ranger behind Ron Greschner (335).
BLUESHIRT BULLETS
- Jaroslav Halak has points (9-2-2) in 11 of his last 13 starts.
- When Filip Chytil, Kaapo Kakko, Alexis Lafreniere each get a point in a contest, the Rangers own a record of 19-0-1 in the regular season and 3-1 in the postseason.
- K'Andre Miller has established career-highs in goals (8), assists (30) and points (38) this season. Miller has seven points (2G-5A) in his last seven games and nine points in his last 11 games.
- Vincent Trocheck has points in six of his last nine games (1G-9A) and has points in nine of his last 16 games (3G-12A). His 39 assists this season are the second most in his career (44 - 2017-18 with FLA).
- Igor Shesterkin has 34 wins on the year, tied for the second most in the NHL and has wins in seven of his last nine games.
- Jacob Trouba has points in eight of his last 14 games (4G-7A) and five points in his last seven games (1G-4A). He ranks second in the NHL with 184 blocked shots.
- Vladimir Tarasenko has points in five of his last eight games (2G-4A) and 11 points in his last 14 games (4G-7A).
- The Rangers own a 66-13-4 record when Mika Zibanejad, Artemi Panarin, and Chris Kreider all three record a point.
SPECIAL TEAMS
- On the penalty kill, New York has been perfect in seven of its last nine games and in 11 of its last 14 games.
- Since the trade deadline on March 3, the Blueshirts' 88.2 PK percentage ranks tied for third in the NHL.
