Pregame Notes: Rangers at Sharks

RANGERS RUNDOWN

• The New York Rangers close out their west coast trip with a Tuesday night contest against the Sharks in San Jose (10:30 PM ET - TV: MSG Network - Radio: ESPN 1050 AM). After tonight, the Rangers will play only three games later than 8:00 PM ET the rest of the season.
• The Rangers have won three of their last five games and their 29 wins rank fourth in the NHL.
• On Monday, the NHL announced that Vincent Trocheck will head to the All-Star Game in Toronto - the second ASG of his career (2017).
• Against the Sharks, the Blueshirts have earned a point in 10-straight games (9-0-1) dating back to 2018. Among active teams in the NHL, the Rangers’ .740 point percentage all-time against the Sharks is their second highest (Seattle - .917).
• Versus the Western Conference, the Rangers are 14-7-1 and 9-4-0 against Pacific Division teams.
• With New York’s next win, Peter Laviolette will tie Al Arbour for the seventh most wins in NHL history by a head coach with 782.
• Tonight, Rangers head equipment manager Acacio “Cass” Marques will work his 2,000th NHL game. Marques has been with the team since 1993-94.
• In the last 14 games (since Dec. 27), Artemi Panarin (18 pts) and Vincent Trocheck (16 pts) have recorded a combined 34 points (17G-17A).
• New York has the NHL’s second best power play percentage (28.7) and the third most (tied) power play goals in the league (41). The club also ranks eighth in penalty kill percentage (82.7).
• The Rangers’ 54.1 faceoff percentage is tied for the third highest in the NHL. Since 1997-98 when the league started tracking FOW%, the team hasn’t finished a season over 53.3 percent.
• New York has accumulated 111 points from defensemen this season, the fifth most in the NHL.
• The Blueshirts have seven comeback wins after trailing in the third period, tied for the fourth most in the NHL.

RANGERS AND SHARKS CONNECTIONS

• Nick Bonino played parts of two seasons with the Sharks from 2021-22 to 2022-23.
• Barclay Goodrow played parts of six seasons with the Sharks (2014-15 – 2019-20).
• Jonny Brodzinski played three games for the Sharks during the 2019-20 season.
• Sharks head coach David Quinn was head coach of the Blueshirts from 2018-19 to 2020-21.
• Sharks general manager Mike Grier was a hockey operations adviser for the Rangers during the 2021-22 season.
• Sharks forward Ryan Carpenter spent the 2022-23 season with New York, recording three points (1G-2A) in 22 games.
• Sharks defenseman Ty Emberson was with the Hartford Wolf Pack in 2022-23, earning best defensive defenseman in the AHL’s Eastern Conference.
• Kevin Labanc was born in Brooklyn and grew up on Staten Island.

FORECHECK, BACKCHECK, TROCHECK

Vincent Trocheck was named to the NHL All-Star Game on Monday afternoon, the second of his career (2017).

This season, he ranks first in the NHL (min. 700 FO) in faceoff percentage (62.0) and is one of three players in the NHL to have both 40 or more points and 60 or more hits.

Since Dec. 30, Trocheck’s 15 points rank tied for seventh in the NHL.
Trocheck has 11 points in his last 10 games (6G-5A) and 39 points in his last 35 games (14G-25A). Trocheck’s next assist will be the 300th of his career.

PANARIN’S POINTS

Artemi Panarin ranks tied for fourth in the NHL in goals (28), fifth in points (62), and tied for fifth in multi-point games (19).

Panarin has points in six of his last eight games (3G-4A), 13 of his last 15 games (11G-8A) and 18 of his last 21 games (12G-13A).

He has notched a point in 38 of his 46 games this year, the second most games with a point in the NHL this season (MacKinnon leads with 40).

NEXT ON FOX

Adam Fox has points in three of his last four games (5A) and six of his last nine games (4G-5A).

Fox has 45 career multi-assist games, the fourth most in the NHL since his NHL debut in 2019-20. Only Quinn Hughes (55), Roman Josi (48) and Cale Makar (46) have more over that span.

Since the 2019-20 season, Fox ranks fifth among NHL defensemen in points (269) and tied for second in assists (225).

KREIDING TO MAKE HISTORY

Chris Kreider scored his 137th career road goal on Sunday night, surpassing Camille Henry for the fourth most road goals in Rangers history. Kreider has points in seven of his last nine games (3G-5A) and 14 of his last 16 contests (6G-12A).

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
• 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).

MIKA’S MISSION TO 500 POINTS WITH NYR

Mika Zibanejad has points in four-straight games (1G-4A), six of his past nine games (1G-6A) and 16 of his last 20 games (9G-15A).

Zibanejad (531 GP) sits one point away from 500 with the Blueshirts. He can become the fourth-fastest in Rangers history to notch 500 points with the club behind Mark Messier (406 GP), Brian Leetch (496 GP), and Andy Bathgate (518 GP).

SLAP SHOTS

• Will Cuylle ranks first among rookies and tied for eighth in the NHL in hits with 122.
• Jacob Trouba’s 141 blocked shots are the most in the NHL. Trouba is the only player in the NHL to have 100+ blocked shots and 100+ hits.
• Nick Bonino ranks first among forwards with 75 blocked shots and since 2021-22, Bonino leads all forwards in blocked shots with 256. Bonino is one assist away from 200 in his career.
• The Rangers have a regular season record of 42-11-6 when Kreider and Zibanejad score a goal in the same game.