Rangers at Bruins: Pregame Notes

The New York Rangers open the month of February with a road game against the Boston Bruins (3:30 PM ET - TV: ABC - Radio: ESPN 880 AM). New York will play nine games in the month of February (4 at home, 5 on road).

RANGERS RUNDOWN

• Friday night, New York struck a deal to acquire forward J.T. Miller as well as defensemen Erik Brannstrom and Jackson Dorrington from the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for forward Filip Chytil, defenseman Victor Mancini and a conditional first round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft.
• On the road, the Rangers have points in their last five games (3-0-2) for the second best road points percentage in the NHL since Jan. 5 (.800).
• The Blueshirts have won four-straight games against the Bruins dating back to last season.
• New York has points in 10 of its last 12 games (7-2-3) and 11 of its last 14 contests (8-3-3). Since Jan. 2, the Blueshirts rank tied for third in goals scored (47).
• New York’s 19 points in the month of January were the most in the calendar’s first month since 2013-14 (21) and tied for the sixth most in team history.
• Jonathan Quick is one win away from being the 15th goaltender, and first American-born netminder, to reach 400 career victories. Of the 14 goaltenders in NHL history who have earned 400 or more career wins, three of played for the Rangers (Henrik Lundqvist, Terry Sawchuk, and Jacques Plante).
• The Rangers have had 23 different players score a goal this season and 26 unique point getters, both tied for third in the league.
• Since Jan. 2, Rangers defensemen have accounted for 36 points (6G-30A) with all six defensemen having four or more points.
• New York ranks fourth in the NHL in penalty kill percentage (83.7) and have had a perfect penalty kill in five of its last six games and seven of its last 10 games. The Rangers’ seven shorthanded tallies rank third in the NHL (FLA - 11, TBL - 8).
• The Blueshirts have scored at least three goals in nine of their last 13 contests, including eight games with 4-plus goals. New York has scored four or more goals in four of its last five games.
• In their last five games, 18 Rangers skaters have notched a point and 16 have scored a goal.
• The Rangers rank second in the NHL in faceoff percentage (53.5) and have been 50 percent or better in 35 of 50 games this season (70.0 percent), including five of their last six games.
• When the Blueshirts score four or more goals in a game, they are 14-3-3 and when they allow two or fewer goals, they are 21-2-0. The Rangers have allowed two or fewer goals in 21 of 24 victories this season.
• Since the start of last season, the Rangers have posted a 59-2-0 record in 61 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 15-2-2 when leading after one period and 18-1-2 when leading after the second period.

RANGERS AND BRUINS CONNECTIONS

• Rangers forward Reilly Smith played the 2013-14 and 2014-15 seasons with Boston, recording 91 points (33G-58A) in 163 games.
• Rangers defenseman Urho Vaakanainen was drafted by the Bruins with the 18th selection in the 2017 NHL Draft and play parts of his first four NHL seasons with the team.
• Rangers defenseman Ryan Lindgren was selected by the Bruins in the second round (49th overall) of the 2016 NHL Entry Draft.
• Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy is a native of Long Beach, New York. He was a Rangers fan as a kid and idolized Brian Leetch. His sister is Rangers assistant sports scientist Kayla McAvoy.
• Bruins forward Vinni Lettieri played his first two seasons with the Rangers from 2017-18 – 2018-19.

J.T. MILLER BACK IN MANHATTAN

The Blueshirts acquired J.T. Miller on Friday night, bringing back a player they drafted in 2011. Miller notched nine goals and 26 assists for 35 points in 40 games for the Canucks this season. He ranked second on the club in assists, points, and power play points (14).

Additionally, Miller ranks seventh in the NHL with a 58.6 faceoff percentage.

Since the 2021-22 season, Miller is the only player in the NHL to have recorded 300 or more points as well as 600 or more hits. In that same time frame, he is one of 11 skaters to have three or more 50-plus assist seasons, and his 319 points are the 13th most in the NHL.

PANARIN’S POINTS

Artemi Panarin has a team-leading 21 goals and 52 points, has points in four of his last five games (2G-3A) and 15 points in his last 16 games (6G-9A). Panarin’s 13 points (5G-8A) in January led the Rangers.

Panarin also leads the Rangers in power play goals (7), power play points (17), and shots (147).

Panarin has reached the 50-point mark for his sixth straight time as a member of the Rangers, one of seven in franchise history to do so. He is also the sixth Ranger since 1990-91 to record four straight 20-goal seasons.

He has at least one point in 34 of 48 games (70.8%) this year. Dating back to last season, he has points in 101 of 130 games. The only NHL players who have tallied a point in more games over the span are Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon (110) and Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov (109).

In that same span, his 172 points (70G-102A) rank fifth in the NHL.

Going back further, among NHL skaters since his debut in 2015-16, Panarin has the fourth most assists (547) and fifth most points in the NHL (833).

TROCHECK IN THE CIRCLE

Vincent Trocheck has three points (1G-2A) in his last four games. He ranks third in the NHL in faceoff percentage (59.9) and faceoff wins (587).

On the Blueshirts, Trocheck ranks tied for second in goals (15) and points (32), and tied for fourth in assists (17). His 132 shots are the second most on the team.

Trocheck ranks eighth among NHL forwards in average ice time (21:27). He is one of three NHL forwards (Marner, Hagel) 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 multi-point games in three of his last five contests and six assists in his last seven games. He has points in seven of his last 12 games (1G-9A) and 12 assists in his last 16 games.

Fox has tallied his sixth consecutive 40-point season since making his debut with the Rangers. The only Rangers blueliners with as many straight seasons with 40 points are James Patrick (7: 1985-86 to 1991-92) and Brian Leetch (6: 1993- 94 to 1998-99).

Fox’s 37 assists this season are the sixth most among NHL defensemen and his 12 multi-point games are tied for the fifth most in the league among blueliners.

Since making his NHL debut in 2019-20, Fox has been one of the best blueliners in the NHL.

SHESTY’S SAVES

Igor Shesterkin is 6-2-1 in his last nine starts with two shutouts. On the year, he has allowed two or fewer goals in 15 of his 17 wins this year and in 11 of his last 18 starts, dating back to Dec. 6. Since the beginning of last season, the 27 games in which Shesterkin has allowed one or fewer goals rank tied for first among NHL goaltenders.

Shesterkin has made 40 more saves on four occasions this season. When he makes 40 or more saves in a game over his career, the Rangers are 14-2-1.

Dating back to the 2021-22 season, Shesterkin has ranked among the best in the NHL.

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 ranks second on the Rangers with 15 goals this season, with five of his 15 goals being game-winning tallies. His career total of 49 GWGs are the second most in Rangers history behind Rod Gilbert’s 52.

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 tied for fourth in the NHL.

MIKA’S MISSION

Mika Zibanejad is one goal away from tying Brian Leetch (240) for the 10th most in franchise history. The list is topped by Rod Gilbert (406).

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

Zibanejad’s 104 power play goals with the Blueshirts rank fifth in franchise history and since 2016-17, the tallies are the sixth most in the league.

In the month of January, Zibanejad tallied multiple career milestones:

• Tallied his 400th career assist on Jan. 5, becoming the third active Swedish player to reach the mark (Others: E. Karlsson and V. Hedman)
• Recorded his 700th career point on Jan. 2, becoming the 15th Swedish player in NHL history with 700 career points and just the third active (Erik Karlsson and Victor Hedman).

TOO COOL

Will Cuylle has points in three of his last five games (2G-1A) and this season has established a career-high of 27 points (13G-14A).

His team-leading 181 hits rank fourth in the NHL.

BLUESHIRT BULLETS

• Alexis Lafrenière has points in four of his last five games (2G-3A) and points in five of his last seven games (2G-4A). The Rangers have posted a 65-11-4 record in the 80 regular season games which has scored a goal in his NHL career.
• Reilly Smith has multi-point efforts in two of his last three games. The Blueshirts are 17-4-0 this season when Smith notches a point and 9-1-0 when he scores a goal.
• Vincent Trocheck and Will Cuylle are two of six NHL players with 13+ goals and 140+ hits.
• K’Andre Miller has points in three of his last five games (1G-3A). His 36 takeaways are the fifth most in the NHL among defensemen.