Pregame Notes: Rangers vs. Hurricanes

RANGERS RUNDOWN

• The New York Rangers return home for a Metropolitan Division matchup against the Carolina Hurricanes at MSG (7:00 PM ET - TV: MSG Network - Radio: ESPN 98.7 FM). New York will play four of its next five contests at home.
• The Blueshirts have the third most wins (7) and points (14) in the NHL.
• The Rangers are riding a five-game win streak and attempt to earn eight wins in their first 10 games for the second time in franchise history (Last: 1983-84 - 9-1-0).
• Tonight, Artemi Panarin is set to play in his 600th career game.
• The Rangers will begin a 12-game month of November slate tonight. Since 2015-16, the Blueshirts’ 60 wins in November are tied for second in the NHL behind Toronto’s 65.
• The Rangers have power play goals in eight of their first nine games. New York’s 34.4 power play percentage is the second best in the NHL behind New Jersey’s 42.4 mark. The Rangers’ 11 power play goals are the third most in the NHL. The last time the Blueshirts had 11 or more power play goals in their first nine games of a season was the 2009-10 campaign (11 PPGs).
• The Rangers have been over 50 percent in the faceoff circle in seven of nine games. Their 54.5 faceoff percentage ranks third in the NHL.
• The Blueshirts have allowed the second fewest GA/GP (2.00) in the NHL and second fewest shots per game in the NHL (26.2).
• The Blueshirts have won nine of their last 13 regular season games against the Hurricanes and have wins in 10 out of their last 15 games against them. At home, New York is 18-4-0 in its last 22 contests against Carolina.
• New York’s four comeback victories are tied for the third most in the NHL and its two third-period comeback wins are tied for second in the league.
• The Rangers’ defensemen have recorded 27 points, the fifth most in the NHL, and eight goals lead the league. 34.6 percent of all points recorded this season have come from defensemen, the highest mark in the NHL.
• When scoring first, the Rangers are a league-best 5-0-0.
• The Rangers complete a stretch of four consecutive games with each contest being in a different time zone (MT, PT, CT, ET) for the ninth time in franchise history. The last time they did this was in 2018-19.

RANGERS AND HURRICANES CONNECTIONS

• Vincent Trocheck played parts of three seasons for the Hurricanes (2019-20 – 2021-22). From the time he was acquired by the Hurricanes on February 24, 2020 until 2021-22, Trocheck ranked third on the team in points (96), tied for third in assists (57), fourth in goals (39), and second in power play goals (14).
• Rangers head coach Peter Laviolette was the head coach for the Hurricanes from 2003-04 to 2008-09, winning the Stanley Cup with the franchise in 2006.
• Jesper Fast played parts of seven seasons with the Rangers (2013-14 – 2019-20). While playing for the Rangers, Fast received the Players Player Award five seasons in a row (2015-16 – 2019-20).
• Tony DeAngelo played parts of four seasons with the Rangers (2017-18 – 2020-21).
• Brady Skjei played parts of five seasons with the Rangers (2015-16 – 2019-20).
• Antti Raanta played two seasons with the Rangers (2015-16 and 2016-17).
• Adam Fox was acquired by the Rangers from Carolina on Apr. 30, 2019.
• Brendan Lemieux played for the Rangers from 2018-19 to 2020-21.
• Jack Drury is the nephew of Rangers president and GM Chris Drury

PANARIN IN PLACE FOR 600TH CAREER GAME

Tonight, Artemi Panarin will play in his 600th career NHL game (277 - NYR, 160 - CBJ, 162 - CHI). Since his first season in 2015-16, Panarin ranks second in assists (455), fourth in points (676), and sixth in plus/minus (+139). Panarin is the 44th player in NHL history to have 676 or more points through their first 600 games.

Artemi Panarin is riding a season-opening point streak of nine games, the longest by a Rangers player since Darren Turcotte recorded an 11-game run in 1990-91. It is tied for the fourth longest streak to start a season by a Ranger.

At any point of the season, the nine game streak is tied for the third longest of Panarin’s career.

Panarin has a team-leading 15 points (5G-10A) in his first nine games of the season, including five multi-point games. Panarin’s 10 assists are the fifth most in the NHL and his 15 points are tied for the third most.

According to NHL Edge, Panarin has spent the second highest percentage of offensive zone time (51.8%) of any skater in the NHL.

KREIDING HIGH

Chris Kreider has opened the season with six goals in his first nine games, including a league leading four power play goals.

Kreider needs one goal to tie Andy Bathgate for the fourth most goals in team history (272).

Kreider sits four 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 38 power play goals in that span are the second most.

SHESTY’S SAVES

Igor Shesterkin has a 5-2-0 record, his five wins tied for the second most in the NHL. Since the 2021-22 season, Igor Shesterkin leads the NHL with 78 wins, ranks second in save percentage (.924) and GAA (2.30).

His 40 games with allowing one or fewer goals in that span are tied for the most in the NHL.

ADAM’S APPLES

Adam Fox has three goals and eight assists for 11 points in nine games. His eight assists are tied for the second most among league defensemen and his 11 points are tied for the most among NHL d-men.

Fox’s nine power play points (3G-56A) and three power play goals rank first among league d-men.

Since the beginning of the 2020-21 season among NHL defensemen, Fox has recorded the second most assists (173) and the second most points (204).

SLAP SHOTS

• Jacob Trouba’s 33 blocked shots are tied for the most in the NHL. Nick Bonino ranks tied for second with 31 blocked shots and has been over 50 percent in faceoffs in six of nine games.
• Will Cuylle ranks first among rookies (T-10th among all NHL skaters) in hits with 25.
• Kaapo Kakko, Alexis Lafrenière and Filip Chytil have each recorded a point in the same regular-season game on 24 occasions. The Rangers hold a record of 22-0-2 in such contests.
• Among NHL skaters with 100 or more faceoffs, Vincent Trocheck ranks fifth in faceoff percentage (61.8).
• Jonathan Quick has wins in his first two starts, including a shutout on Oct. 26 at EDM. This is the third time in his career that Quick has won his first two starts of a season while allowing one or fewer goals in each (2023-24, 2017-18, 2010-11). Quick is the seventh goaltender in franchise history to allow one or fewer goals in each of his first two starts with the club (Last: Antti Raanta - 2015)
• K’Andre Miller leads the Rangers with a plus-6 rating and has points in four of his last five contests (1G-5A).

SPECIAL TEAMS 

• This season, the Blueshirts have a 83.9 PK percentage, tied for the 10th highest in the NHL. New York has had a perfect PK in five of nine games.
• The Rangers finished with a 24.1 power play percentage in 2022-23, the fifth highest in club history and the seventh highest in the NHL.
• On the penalty kill in 2022-23, the Blueshirts allowed 42 power play goals, tied for the seventh fewest in the NHL