Pregame Notes: Rangers vs. Flames

RANGERS RUNDOWN

• The New York Rangers host the Calgary Flames at Madison Square Garden to begin the third week of February (7:00 PM ET - TV: MSG 2 - Radio: ESPN 1050 AM). The Blueshirts won’t play outside of New York/New Jersey until February 24 in Philadelphia and their 24 home games are tied for the second fewest in the NHL.
• New York has wins in four-straight games and points in six of its last seven games (5-1-1). This is the Rangers’ third winning streak of four or more games this season (6 GP - Oct. 21-Nov. 2, 4 GP - Nov. 7-18).
• The Blueshirt’s 33 wins are tied for the second most in the NHL and their 69 points rank fifth in the league. At home, the Rangers have won 17 games, tied for the fourth most in the NHL.
• New York has six players (Kreider, Zibanejad, Panarin, Trocheck, Fox, Lafreniere) with 30 or more points, tied for the third most in the NHL. The Rangers also have four players (Kreider, Panarin, Trocheck, Zibanejad) with 15-plus goals, tied for the second most.
• Against the Flames at home, the Rangers have won six of their last eight games dating back to 2012-13.
• In the last 20 games (since Dec. 27), Artemi Panarin (24 pts) and Vincent Trocheck (19 pts) have recorded a combined 43 points (20G-23A).
• When allowing three goals or fewer in a game this season, the Rangers have a 31-2-2 record.
• New York has the NHL’s fifth best power play percentage (26.1) and fifth best in penalty kill percentage (83.5). - The Blueshirts have 21 wins when scoring first, tied for the third most in the NHL (Vancouver leads with 26).
• The Rangers’ 53.8 faceoff percentage is tied for the fifth 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 127 points from defensemen this season, the fourth most in the NHL.
• The Blueshirts have 16 comeback wins this season, tied for third in the NHL, and eight when trailing in the third period, tied for the second most in the league.

RANGERS AND FLAMES CONNECTIONS

• Adam Fox was selected by Calgary in the third round (66th overall) of the 2016 NHL Entry Draft.
• Chris Drury played one season with the Flames (2002-03).
• Rangers defenseman Erik Gustafsson played seven games for the Flames during the 2019-20 season.
• Kevin Rooney played two season for the Rangers (2020-21 – 2021-22).
• Calgary President of Hockey Operations Don Maloney played parts of 11 seasons with the Rangers (1978-79 – 1988-89) and served as the Blueshirts’ Assistant General Manager for 10 seasons. His brother is former Rangers captain and MSG Network personality, Dave Maloney.
• Rasmus Andersson is the son of Peter Andersson, who played with the Rangers for parts of two seasons (1992-93 and 1993-94), and the brother of Calle Andersson, who was selected by the Rangers in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft.
• Rangers associate coach Phil Housley played parts of five seasons for the Flames (1994-95 – 1995-96, 1998-99 – 2000-01).

PANARIN’S POINTS

Artemi Panarin has points in five of his last seven games (4G-3A), eight of his last 11 games (5G-5A), 18 points in his last 17 games (8G-10A). He has notched a point in 42 games this year, tied for the second most in the NHL.

Panarin ranks tied for sixth in the NHL in goals (31) and tied for fifth in points (68).

He has reached 30 goals in a season for the fourth time in his career and is the only active undrafted player to accomplish the feat.

His 31 goals are tied for the second most of his career.

QUICK AND TO THE POINT

Jonathan Quick has won three-straight starts, allowing two or fewer goals in all three. Quick is the oldest goaltender in franchise history with a three-game winning streak and the second active netminder with a run of that length at age 38 or older, joining Marc-Andre Fleury (7 GP & 3 GP in 2022-23).

Quick holds a 12-4-2 record this season. Among goaltenders with 18 or more starts, he ranks third in goals-against average (2.27) and seventh in save percentage (.919).

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

FORECHECK, BACKCHECK, TROCHECK

Vincent Trocheck ranks first in the NHL (min. 700 FO) in faceoff percentage (61.5) and is the only player in the NHL to have 45 or more points, 60 or more hits, and 40 or more blocked shots.

Trocheck has points in four of his past seven games (1G-3A) and 14 points in his last 16 games (6G-8A).

KREIDING TO MAKE HISTORY

Chris Kreider has 24 goals this season, points in seven of his last 10 contests (4G-7A) and nine of his last 13 games (4G-9A). 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).

NEXT ON FOX

Adam Fox has points in six of his last eight games (1G-8A) and 10 of his last 15 games (5G-10A).

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 (274) and tied for second in assists (230).

SLAP SHOTS

• Mika Zibanejad has points in seven of his last 10 games (2G-7A) and four points (1G-3A)in his last four games.
• Will Cuylle ranks first among rookies and fifth in the NHL in hits with 168. He has a plus/minus rating of even or better in 42 of 52 games this season (42 games with a plus/minus rating of even or better are most on the Rangers and most among all NHL rookies).
• Jacob Trouba’s 147 blocked shots are the third most in the NHL. Trouba is the only player in the NHL to have 125+ blocked shots and 125+ hits.
• Alexis Lafreniere has goals in three of his last four games.
• Jonny Brodzinski also has three goals in his last four games. His four goals match a career-high originally set in 2017-18 with Los Angeles.
• Blake Wheeler has four points in his last five games (2G-2A) and six points in his last 10 contests (4G-2A).
• The Rangers have a regular season record of 43-11-6 when Kreider and Zibanejad score a goal in the same game.