Pregame Notes: Rangers vs. Blue Jackets

RANGERS RUNDOWN

• The New York Rangers finish their three-game homestand with their second contest of the season against the Columbus Blue Jackets (7:00 PM ET - TV: MSG Network - Radio: ESPN 1050 AM).
• New York’s next game after tonight will come on Saturday, Nov. 18 in New Jersey and its next home game is November 25 against Boston.
• The Rangers have points in nine-straight games (8-0-1) and are 4-1-0 at home. With a point against Columbus, they will match their season-long streak from last year (10 GP - Jan. 12 - Feb. 18, 2023). On 17 occasions in franchise history have the Blueshirts had a point streak of 10 games or more.
• In the NHL, New York has the third most wins (10) and points (21).
• It is the fourth time in team history the Blueshirts have won at least 10 of their first 13 games of a season (2023-24, 2016- 17, 2008-09, 1990-91).
• The Rangers have the NHL’s second best power play percentage (35.7) and have scored power play goals in 11 of their first 13 games. The Rangers’ 15 power play goals are the fourth most in the league. On the flip side, the Blueshirts’ 86.4 penalty kill percentage is tied for sixth in the league. The Blueshirts have a perfect penalty kill in three-straight games and four of their last five contests.
• New York has seven players (Kreider, Fox, Gustafsson, Lafreniere, Panarin, Trocheck, Zibanejad) with nine or more points, tied for the second most in the NHL behind Winnipeg’s eight.
• The Rangers have the second best (tied) faceoff percentage in the NHL with a 55.1 percent mark. New York has been over 50 percent in the faceoff circle in 11 of 13 games.
• With 234 blocked shots, the Blueshirts rank fourth in the NHL.
• Tonight, Mika Zibanejad will play in his 500th game with the Rangers.
• The Blueshirts have the third fewest GA/GP (2.08) in the NHL and have allowed the third fewest shots per game in the NHL (27.4). In seven of 13 games, the Rangers have allowed one or fewer goals against - the most in the NHL.
• Against Columbus, the Rangers have won six of their last nine games.
• The Rangers’ defensemen have recorded 37 points, the sixth most in the NHL, and nine goals are tied for the fourth most. 30.8 percent of all points recorded this season have come from defensemen, the second highest mark in the NHL.
• New York is 8-1-1 when scoring first, tied for the most such wins in the NHL.
• This weekend, Rangers legendary goaltender will be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. Lundqvist manned New York’s crease for each of his 15 NHL seasons and set franchise records for games played by a goaltender (887), wins (459) and shutouts (64) while also establishing Rangers records for career playoff games played by a goaltender (130), wins (61) and shutouts (10).

RANGERS AND BLUE JACKETS CONNECTIONS

• Artemi Panarin played two seasons with the Blue Jackets (2017-18 and 2018-19).
• 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).

PANARIN ON A PATH

Artemi Panarin is riding a season-opening point streak of 13 games (8G-14A), the longest such streak by a Rangers player since Rod Gilbert recorded an 14-game run in 1972-73. Panarin also has multiple points in three-straight contests.

Panarin’s streak is tied for the sixth longest to open a season in the NHL since 1993-94.

Panarin became the eighth player in Rangers history to reach the 20-point mark in a season in 12 or fewer games, joining Pavel Bure (11 GP in 2001-02), Carey Wilson (11 GP in 1988-89), Walt Poddubny (11 GP in 1986-87), Rod Gilbert (11 GP in 1972-73), Jaromir Jagr (12 GP in 2006-07), Frank Boucher (12 GP in 1929-30) and Bill Cook (12 GP in 1929-30).

At any point of the season, the 13-game streak is tied for the longest of Panarin’s career. This is Panarin’s third career point streak of 10 or more games and he is the sixth player in franchise history with at least three double-digit point streaks, joining Rod Gilbert (8x), Mark Messier (4x), Brian Leetch (4x), Mike Rogers (3x) and Jean Ratelle (3x).

The last time a Ranger had a point streak of 13 or more games was Panarin himself in 2020.

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

NEW YORK NETMINDERS

As a team, the Blueshirts have the fourth highest (tied) save percentage in the NHL (.924) and third lowest GAA (2.04). The Rangers have had three goaltenders earn a win for them this season, all three allowing one or fewer goals in their first start. On 11 instances in NHL history, a team has had three goaltenders earn a win and allow one or fewer goals in their first starts of the season

The last time the Rangers had three goalies record wins through the teams first 13 games of a season was during the 1989-90 season.

Igor Shesterkin has a 6-2-0 record on the year. Since the 2021-22 season, Igor Shesterkin leads the NHL with 79 wins, ranks second in save percentage (.924) and third in GAA (2.29).

Jonathan Quick has began his Rangers career with a 3-0-1 start and has allowed one or fewer goals in two of those four starts. Among NHL goaltenders who have made four or more starts this season, Quick ranks fifth in save percentage (.935) and tied for fourth in GAA (1.77).

KREIDING HIGH

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

Kreider has opened the season with nine goals (tied for the sixth most in NHL) in his first 13 games, including a league- leading six power play goals.

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.

MIKA’S MISSION TO 500 GAMES WITH NYR

Tonight, Mika Zibanejad is set to play in his 500th game as a member of the Rangers. Since his first season with the team in 2016-17, Zibanejad has compiled the most points (465) and assists (259) on New York while recording the second most goals (206). His 90 power play goals in that span are the fourth most in the NHL.

Of the 33 skaters who have played at least 500 games in franchise history with the Rangers, Zibanejad has scored the most goals, recorded the third most points and notched the fourth most assists over the first 500 games with the team.

SLAP SHOTS

• Jacob Trouba’s 48 blocked shots are tied for the most in the NHL. Nick Bonino ranks tied for seventh with 37 blocked shots and leads all forwards. Since 2021-22, Bonino leads all forwards in blocked shots with 218.
• Among NHL skaters with 100 or more faceoffs, Vincent Trocheck ranks third in faceoff percentage (62.9). He has opened the scoring for the Blueshirts in his last two games and has three goals and three assists in his last two games.
• Will Cuylle ranks first among rookies in hits with 36 and has points in four-straight games (2G-2A). The last Rangers rookie to have a point streak of five games was Adam Fox (5 GP - Nov. 4-12, 2019.
• Erik Gustafsson ranks second among Rangers defensmen with nine points (3G-6A) and has four multi-point games this season. On Thursday, he became the 10th defenseman from the 2012 NHL Entry Draft to collect 200 points. In addition, Gustafsson has points in three-straight games (1G-4A).
• On Thursday, Alexis Lafreniere posted his first career three-point game (1G-2A) and notched his 100th career point. He has points in three-straight games (1G-4A).