RANGERS RUNDOWN
- The New York Rangers head back home for a meeting against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Madison Square Garden (7:00 PM ET - TV: MSG Network - Radio: ESPN 98.7 FM). The Blueshirts have nine more games left in the regular season (four at home, five 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.
- New York has points in nine of its last 10 games (8-1-1) and wins in six of its last seven contests. At home, the Rangers have won five of their last six and 10 of their last 13 games. The Blueshirts are 13-5-0 in their last 18 home games.
- Since December 5, New York is 32-10-5 for 69 points. In the NHL in that span, the Rangers rank third in points, wins, points percentage (.734), and power play percentage (23.7), while also ranking fourth in goals per game (3.55).
- With a 2.69 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-21 goal differential in the third period ranks fourth in the NHL.
- The Blueshirts have scored 21 goals over their last five games and four or more goals in five of their last seven contests. When scoring four or more goals, New York is 29-0-0 and one of two teams in the NHL (VGK) to have a perfect such record.
- The Blueshirts have earned at least one point in eight of their last 12 games against Columbus (6-4-2). At home, the Rangers have points in three of their last five against them (1-2-2).
- Patrick Kane has recorded more assists (52) and points (76) against the Blue Jackets than any other opponent in the NHL.
- With Vincent Trocheck's next goal, he would join Kreider, Zibanejad, Chytil and Panarin to hit the 20-goal mark this season. The last season to feature five different 20-goal scorers for the Ranger was 2015-16 (Derick Brassard, Mats Zuccarello, J.T. Miller, Derek Stepan and Chris Kreider).
- The Rangers defensemen group has compiled 176 points, tied for the third most in the NHL.
Pregame Notes: Rangers vs. Blue Jackets - 03.28.23
RANGERS AND BLUE JACKETS CONNECTIONS
MIKA MARCH
Mika Zibanejad has 11 points in his last seven games (5G-6A), 19 points in his last 15 (7G-12A) and 30 points in his last 24 games (15G-15A). With 79 points, he is two away from tying his career high of 81 set last year. With one more point, he can become 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 thrived in the month of March over his career, totaling 129 points (62G-67A) in 153 games played.
Among NHL forwards, Zibanejad is one of three that has a plus-23 rating or better and 79-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 1,233 points in his NHL career, Kane has surpassed Phil Housley for second place on the NHL's all-time list among U.S.-born players.
PANARIN'S POINTS
Artemi Panarin has points in five of his last seven games (4G-5A) and 10 of his last 14 games (6G-11A), including five 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 has five goals in his last eight games and 32 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 eight of his last 13 games (8G-2A).
ADAM'S APPLES
Adam Fox has points in six-straight games (1G-5A), eight in his last nine games and 14 in his last 18 contests. He has 54 assists on the season, tied for the third most among NHL defenseman.
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.
When he records multiple points, the Rangers are 13-0-0.
BLUESHIRT BULLETS
- 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. - Among NHL players with 15 minutes or less per game, Filip Chytil has the second most goals (21) and is tied for the most points (41).
- K'Andre Miller has established career-highs in goals (8), assists (30) and points (38) this season. Miller has six points (2G- 4A) in his last five games and eight points in his last nine games.
- Vincent Trocheck has points in five of his last seven games (8A) and has points in eight of his last 14 games (2G-11A). His 38 assists this season are the second most in his career (44 - 2017-18 with FLA).
- Igor Shesterkin has 33 wins on the year, the second most in the NHL and has wins in six of his last seven games. With 94 career wins in 150 career games, Shesterkin became the seventh goaltender in NHL history with 94-plus victories through his first 150 NHL games (Bill Durnan, Michel Larocque, Frank Brimsek, Tiny Thompson, Chris Osgood, Bob Froese).
- Jacob Trouba has points in eight of his last 12 games (4G-7A) and five points in his last five games (1G-4A). He ranks second in the NHL with 182 blocked shots.
- Vladimir Tarasenko has points in four of his last six games (1G-4A) and 10 points in his last 12 games (3G-7A).
- Jaroslav Halak has points (9-2-2) in 11 of his last 13 starts.
- The Rangers own a 65-13-4 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 its last seven games (16-for-16) and in 11 of its last 12 games (29-for-31)
- Since the trade deadline on March 3, the Blueshirts' 92.9 PK percentage ranks first in the NHL.
