Rangers at Blackhawks: Pregame Notes

The New York Rangers conclude the weekend back-to-back, Chicago on Sunday afternoon (3:00 PM ET - TV: ABC - Radio: ESPN 880 AM). New York will play five of its next six games against Western Conference teams.

RANGERS RUNDOWN

• Today marks the 600th all-time meeting between the Blueshirts and Blackhawks. The first game between the two was on November 30, 1926 which was also the franchise’s first game decided in overtime (4-3 NYR win).
• Against Chicago, the Rangers have won three of their last four and seven of their last nine games dating back to the 2018-19 season. New York has scored four or more goals in six of its last nine games against the Blackhawks.
• Over the last four games, the Rangers have posted 149 shots on goal. Their 34.8 shots per game since Dec. 28 are the most in the NHL and New York’s 30.0 shots per game this season rank eighth in the NHL.
• Jonathan Quick is one win away from being the 15th goaltender, and first American-born netminder, to reach 400 career victories.
• With a 53.9 percent clip, the Blueshirts rank second in the NHL in faceoff percentage and have been 50 percent or better in 27 of 38 games this season (71 percent).
• The Rangers have earned 30 wins decided by a margin of one goal dating back to last season, the most among all teams. - Vincent Trocheck and Will Cuylle are two of seven NHL players with 10+ goals and 120+ hits.
• When the Blueshirts score four or more goals in a game, they are 10-2-1 and when they allow two or fewer goals, they are 15-2-0. The Rangers have allowed two or fewer goals in 15 of 17 victories this season.
• Since the start of last season, the Rangers have posted a 53-2-0 record in 55 regular season games in which they have allowed two goals or fewer (not counting team goals awarded for shootout win).
• On the year, New York is 11-2-0 when leading after one period and 15-1-0 when leading after the second period.
• The Blueshirts have played the fewest overtime sessions in the league with only one (Oct. 12 vs. Utah).

RANGERS AND BLACKHAWKS CONNECTIONS

• Rangers forward Artemi Panarin began his NHL career with Chicago and played two seasons with the Blackhawks (2015- 16 and 2016-17). He won the Calder Trophy as the NHL’s Rookie of the Year in 2015-16 and was named to the NHL’s Second All-Star Team at Left Wing in 2016-17.
• Rangers associate coach Phil Housley played two seasons for the Blackhawks from 2001-02 – 2002-03.
• Blackhawks Associate General Manager Norm Maciver played parts of three seasons with the Rangers (1986-87 – 1988- 89).

PANARIN’S POINTS

Artemi Panarin has a team-leading 16 goals and 39 points while having points in nine of his last 14 games (4G-9A). He is the franchise’s all-time leader in points per game (1.30) and assists per game (0.87).

He has at least one point in 25 of 36 games this year and dating back to last season, he has points in 92 of 118 games. The only NHL players who have tallied a point in more games over the span are Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon (100) and Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov (96).

With his latest multi-point game (143rd), Panarin moved past Ron Greschner and into a tie with Mika Zibanejad for the eighth most in franchise history.

Among NHL skaters since his debut in 2015-16, Panarin has the fourth most assists (539) and fifth most points in the NHL (820).

TROCHECK IN THE CIRCLE

Vincent Trocheck has 11 points (4G-7A) in his last 14 games and five points in his last seven games (2G-3A).

Trocheck ranks third in the NHL among players with 400 or more faceoffs with a 60.4 FOW% and ranks third in the NHL in faceoffs won (449) this season.

Trocheck has won 216 of 351 faceoffs he has taken over the last 16 games (61.5%); he ranks first in the NHL in faceoffs win over the span (since Nov. 30).

Trocheck ranks sixth among NHL forwards in average ice time (21:38). He is the only NHL forward averaging at least 16:00 of even strength ice time, 3:00 of PP ice time, and 2:00 of SH ice time per game this season.

ADAM’S APPLES

Adam Fox has 27 assists on the season, the fifth most among NHL defensemen. He has assists in two of his last four games.

Fox is one of only three defensemen in Rangers history to register 25 or more points in each of their first six NHL seasons (along with Brad Park and Ron Greschner). He needs two points to become the first defenseman in Rangers history to start his career with six consecutive 30-point seasons.

He has logged over 25 minutes of ice time in six of his last eight games and 24:00+ in 14 of his last 16 contests, including single-game, season-high 27:34 on Jan. 4 at Washington. Since Nov. 30, Fox’s 25:25 TOI/GP ranks ninth among all NHL skaters.

Fox has 58 multi-assist games since his debut season in 2019-20, the fourth most among defenseman over that span. In that time frame, he ranks third among defensemen in the NHL in assists (282) and fifth in points (336).

Fox is one assist away from tying Park for fourth place on the franchise’s all-time assists list among defensemen and nine points away from tying Harry Howell for fifth place on the franchise’s all-time points list among defensemen.

KREIDING INTO THE HISTORY BOOKS

Chris Kreider, with 115 career power play goals, sits one power play goal away from tying Camille Henry for the most in franchise history. He has points in a season-long three games and four of his last six games (3G-1A).

He ranks second on the Rangers with 13 goals this season, with four of his 13 goals being game-winning tallies. His career total of 48 GWGs are the second most in Rangers history behind Rod Gilbert’s 52.

Kreider has 100 regular season goals on tips/deflections in his NHL career (92 tipped, 8 deflected). No NHL player has more since Kreider’s first NHL regular season game in 2012-13 (Pavelski is second - 96).

Kreider has 41 career multi-goal games, one shy of tying Camille Henry (42 GP) for the sixth most in Rangers history.

Since 2021-22, Kreider’s 11 shorthanded goals are the most in the NHL. His 11 career shorthanded goals are tied with Walt Tkaczuk and Mika Zibanejad for fifth place on the franchise’s all-time list. In that same span, his 57 power play goals rank for third in the NHL.

TOO COOL

Will Cuylle has established a career-high of 24 points (11G-13A) and on New York ranks third in goals, third in points, first in plus/minus (9), and tied for fourth in assists (13).

His team-leading 139 hits rank sixth in the NHL.

Cuylle required the fewest games (23 GP) to 20 points in a season by a Rangers player under the age of 23 since Alex Kovalev (20 GP in 1995-96).

MIKA’S MISSION

Mika Zibanejad is one assist from 400 and would be the fourth active Swedish player to record 400 assists in their career.

On his goal on January 2 against Boston, he recorded his 700th career point, becoming the 15th Swedish player in NHL history with 700 career points and just the third active (Erik Karlsson and Victor Hedman).

Zibanejad has goals in back-to-back games and his latest goal surpassed Ulf Dahlen (301) for seventh place on NHL’s all- time list among Swedish players.

When he scores a goal this year, the Rangers are 7-1-0.

With 312 assists in a Rangers sweater, Zibanejad has surpassed Steve Vickers for the 11th most in franchise history. Zibanejad has 143 multi-point games with the Rangers, the eighth most in franchise history.

Since Zibanejad joined the Rangers in 2016-17, he ranks sixth in the NHL in power play goals with 103 which is also the sixth most in Rangers history.

BLUESHIRT BULLETS

• The Rangers have posted a 64-11-2 record in the 77 regular season games which Alexis Lafrenière has scored a goal in his NHL career.
• Reilly Smith has 18 points (7G-11A) on the year and the Rangers are 13-3-0 this season when he notches a point.