Pregame Notes: Rangers vs. Blue Jackets

RANGERS RUNDOWN

• The New York Rangers complete a home-and-home set against the Columbus Blue Jackets, at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night (7:00 PM ET - TV: MSG Network - Radio: ESPN 98.7 FM). The Blueshirts will play four of their next five games at home.
• New York has wins in 10 of its last 11 games and has points in 12 of its last 14 contests (11-2-1).
• The Blueshirts’ 39 wins are the most in the NHL while their 81 points rank third in the league. With a win tonight in game No. 60, the Rangers will match the 1972-73 season for the fewest games needed to reach the 40-win mark.
• At home, the Rangers are 20-7-0 and rank tied for second in the NHL in home wins. New York has won five-straight home games and seven of it last eight at MSG.
• The Blueshirts have allowed only one goal in three of their last four games and have allowed either one or zero goals in a game a league-high 22 times this season. When allowing three goals or fewer in a game this season, the Rangers have a 35-2-2 record.
• The Rangers have scored at least one goal in the second period in nine-straight games dating back to Feb. 7. The team’s plus-19 goal differential in the middle frame this season ranks tied for second in the NHL.
• New York has accumulated 146 points from defensemen this season, the third most in the NHL.
• New York has the NHL’s sixth best power play percentage (24.9) and fourth best penalty kill percentage (84.9). The Blueshirts have five power play goals in their last six games.
• The Blueshirts have 18 comeback wins this season and nine when trailing in the third period, both tied for second in the NHL.
• New York has five players (Kreider, Zibanejad, Panarin, Trocheck, Fox) with 40 or more points and five players (Kreider, Panarin, Trocheck, Zibanejad, Lafreniere) with 15-plus goals, both tied for the second most in the NHL.
• In the last 27 games (since Dec. 27), Artemi Panarin (35 pts) and Vincent Trocheck (27 pts) have recorded a combined 62 points (27G-35A).
• When scoring first, the Blueshirts have 26 wins, the second most in the NHL.
• The Rangers’ .875 win percentage (7-1) in five-minute overtime session ranks first in the league.

RANGERS AND BLUE JACKETS CONNECTIONS

• Artemi Panarin played two seasons with the Blue Jackets (2017-18 and 2018-19).
• Jonathan Quick was traded to Columbus by the Kings last season but never played a game for the team.
• Rangers assistant coach Michael Peca finished out his career with the Blue Jackets, playing two seasons with the team (2007-08 – 2008-09).
• Columbus’ President of Hockey Operations John Davidson served as the Rangers President for two seasons (2019-2021).
• Director of Player Development for Columbus, Rick Nash, played parts of six seasons with the Rangers (2012-13 – 2017- 18).

THIS IS 40

The Rangers have 39 wins in 59 games and with a win tonight they would tie the 1972-73 team for the fewest games required to reach the mark.

PANARIN’S POINTS

Artemi Panarin has established a career-high mark of 33 goals and has notched 11 points (2G-9A) in his last six games. His performance on Feb. 22 at NJD marked his 22nd three-assist game with New York, surpassing Mark Messier for the fourth most in Rangers history.

He has notched a point in 47 games this year, the third most in the NHL.

Panarin ranks tied for seventh in the NHL in goals (33) and tied for fifth in points (79).

NEXT ON FOX

Adam Fox has seven points (1G-6A) in his last six games and nine points (1G-8A) in his last eight games. He also has points in nine of his last 15 games (2G-14A). Despite missing 10 games with injury, he ranks seventh among NHL defensemen in points (46).

His next goal would make him the first Rangers defenseman since Brian Leetch (4 from 2000-01 – 2003-04) to record three straight 10-goal campaigns.

With his 40th point of the season, he joined Phil Housley (1982-83 to 1992-93), Mark Howe (1979-80 to 1987-88) and Gary Suter (1985-86 to 1992-93) as the fourth U.S.-born defenseman to record at least 40 points in each of his first five seasons. He

Fox recorded his 30th assist of the season on Feb. 9 at Chicago and became the sixth player, second defenseman, in Rangers history to record 30 assists in each of his first five seasons with the franchise, joining Mark Messier (6), Phil Goyette (6), Artemi Panarin (5), Reijo Ruotsalainen (5) and Phil Esposito (5).

Since the 2019-20 season, Fox ranks fifth among NHL defensemen in points (281) and second in assists (236).

KREIDING HIGH

Chris Kreider has 29 goals this season, five in his last six games and six in his last eight games.

Since the 2021-22 season, Kreider’s 117 goals rank sixth in the NHL and in that same time frame, his 45 power play goals rank third.

With one more goal, he will record his third consecutive 30-goal season and become the seventh Ranger to reach the feat (Phil Esposito - 4, Steve Vickers - 4, Mike Gartner - 3, Rod Gilbert- 3, Anders Hedberg - 3, Jean Ratelle - 3).

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
• Surpassed Camille Henry for the fourth most road goals in franchise history (137)
• 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).

NEW YORK NETMINDERS

Igor Shesterkin has 25 wins on the season, has won six-straight starts, and has earned points in eight of his last nine starts. Shesterkin has allowed two or fewer goals in 19 of his 25 wins. In his last three starts, he has stopped 119 of 122 shots, allowing one goal in each of the three contests. He was named the third star of the week in the NHL last week.

In his last six games, Shesterkin has a .951 save percentage and 1.84 goals-against average.

Since 2021-22, Shesterkin has allowed one or fewer goals when facing 40-plus shots on seven occasions, the second most in the NHL.

Jonathan Quick has won four of his last five starts, allowing two or fewer goals in three of them.

Quick holds a 13-5-2 record this season. His 13 wins tie Dave Kerr, Lorn Chabot and Igor Shesterkin for the most wins through 20 career games with the Rangers.

He is one win away from tying Dominik Hasek for 15th most in NHL history (389) and three wins from tying Ryan Miller for the most wins among American-born goaltenders (391).

SLAP SHOTS

• Alexis Lafreniere has five points in his last five games (3G-2A) and nine points (6G-3A) in his last 11 games. The Blueshirts are 15-0-0 when he scores a goal this season. Lafreniere’s 64 career goals are tied with Steve Vickers for the sixth most by a Rangers player age 22 or younger.
• Mika Zibanejad has points in five of his last eight games (4G-3A), 10 points (4G-6A) in his last 11 games, and points in 11 of his last 17 contests (5G-10A).
• Vincent Trocheck ranks second in the NHL (min. 700 FO) in faceoff percentage (60.0) and has points in five of his last six games (5G-3A).
• Will Cuylle ranks first among rookies and fifth in the NHL in hits with 191. He has a plus/minus rating of even or better in 48 of 59 games this season (48 games with a plus/minus rating of even or better are most on the Rangers and most among all NHL rookies).
• Jacob Trouba’s 164 blocked shots are the third most in the NHL. Trouba is the only player in the NHL to have 150+ blocked shots and 150+ hits.
• Kaapo Kakko has points in five of his last eight games (2G-3A).
• The Rangers have a regular season record of 45-11-6 when Kreider and Zibanejad score a goal in the same game.