Rangers at Penguins: Pregame Notes

The New York Rangers face the Pittsburgh Penguins in a Sunday matinee at PPG Paints Arena (3:30 PM ET - TV: TNT - Radio: ESPN 1050 AM).

RANGERS RUNDOWN

• The Blueshirts have three wins in their last five games and have recorded a point in 14 of their 20 games (11-6-3) since the beginning of the 2025 calendar year. Since Jan. 2, the club ranks tied for sixth in the NHL in wins (11) and tied for fifth in points (25).
• New York has at least one point in six of its last eight road games (4-2-2).
• Against the Penguins since 2021-22, the Blueshirts are 9-4-1 in 14 regular season games and have victories in six of their last eight games against Pittsburgh.
• Since Jan. 2, the Blueshirts rank third in the NHL in goals scored (65) and have scored three or more goals in 13 of 20 games, including 10 games with four or more tallies. New York has scored three or more goals in five of its last eight games.
• Jonathan Quick’s next game will be the 800th of his career. He would become the 17th netminder in NHL history to reach the feat and the second American-born (John Vanbiesbrouck - 841 GP).
• The Rangers rank second in the NHL in faceoff percentage (53.8) and have been 50 percent or better in 40 of 56 games this season (71.4 percent), including 10 of their last 12 games.
• The Blueshirts rank sixth in the NHL in penalty kill percentage (81.9) and their nine shorthanded goals are tied for the second most in the league.
• The Rangers have had 25 different players score a goal this season, tied for the most in the NHL, and 27 unique point getters, the fifth most in the league. In their last 12 games, 20 Rangers skaters have notched a point and 19 have scored a goal.
• When the Blueshirts score four or more goals in a game, they are 16-3-3 and when they allow two or fewer goals, they are 23-2-0. The Rangers have allowed two or fewer goals in 23 of 27 victories this season.
• Since the start of last season, the Rangers have posted a 61-2-0 record in 63 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 15-3-2 when leading after one period and 18-1-2 when leading after the second period.

RANGERS AND PENGUINS CONNECTIONS

• Rangers forward Vincent Trocheck is a native of Pittsburgh, growing up in Upper St. Clair. He and J.T. Miller played for the Pittsburgh Hornets youth team growing up.
• Rangers forward Reilly Smith played 76 games for the Penguins in 2023-24, recording 13 goals and 27 assists for 40 points.
• Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan served as an Assistant Coach with the Rangers for four seasons (2009-10 – 2012-13).
• Penguins forward Kevin Hayes spent the first five seasons of his career in New York, tallying 216 points (87G-129A) in 361 games.
• Penguins defenseman Ryan Graves was selected by the Rangers in the fourth round (110th overall) of the 2013 NHL Entry Draft.

POINT PER GAME PANARIN

Artemi Panarin has points in four of his last six games (2G-4A) and eight points in his last eight games (3G-5A). In his last 17 games, Panarin has recorded 19 points (7G-12A).

Panarin is two points shy of becoming the eighth player in Rangers history with at least four consecutive 60-point seasons. Jean Ratelle (8), Andy Bathgate (8), Rod Gilbert (7), Phil Esposito (5), Walt Tkaczuk (5), Kelly Kisio (4) and Mike Rogers (4) are the only ones to do so to date.

Among Rangers skaters, Panarin ranks first in goals (23), points (58), power play goals (8), power play points (20) and shots (164).

Panarin has at least one point in 38 of his 54 games (70.4%) this year. Since 2023-24, he has points in 105 of 138 games, the third most in the NHL.

Since the beginning of last season, his 178 points (72G-106A) rank sixth in the NHL.

Going back further, among NHL skaters since his debut in 2015-16, Panarin has the fourth most assists (551) and fifth most points in the NHL (839).

J.T. MILLER BACK IN MANHATTAN

In his six games since being re-acquired by the Rangers, J.T. Miller has recorded six points (2G-4A), recording multi-point efforts in three contests. Miller has 12 points (3G-9A) in his last 12 games.

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 325 points are the 13th most in the NHL.

ADAM’S APPLES

Adam Fox has points (1G-4A) in his last five games and nine points (2G-7A) in his last 10 games.

Fox has recorded the fifth 40-assist season of his career, tying James Patrick for the second most in team history among defensemen. Fox became the fifth skater – and first defenseman – to record five straight 40-assist seasons with the Rangers and became the fourth U.S-born defenseman in NHL history to post a run of that length.

Fox’s 41 assists this season are tied for the third most among NHL defensemen and his 12 multi-point games are tied for the sixth 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.

TROCHECK IN THE CIRCLE

Vincent Trocheck ranks second in the NHL in faceoff percentage (60.5) and third in faceoff wins (651).

He has five points in his last four games (2G-3A) and seven points in his last eight games (3G-4A). On the Blueshirts, Trocheck ranks tied for second in goals (17), fourth in points (37), and fourth in assists (20). His 145 shots are the second most on the team.

Trocheck ranks ninth among NHL forwards in average ice time (21:15). He is one of two NHL forwards (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.

MIKA’S MISSION

Mika Zibanejad has nine points in his last six games (3G-6A) and 11 points in his last 11 games (4G-7A). When he scores a goal this year, the Rangers are 9-2-1 and 8-0-0 when has multiple points.

Since Feb. 1, Zibanejad ranks tied for third in the NHL in points (9) and tied for fifth in assists (6).

Zibanejad recently surpassed Brian Leetch (240) for the 10th most goals in franchise history. Zibanejad’s 105 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 January and February, Zibanejad tallied multiple career milestones: • Played in 900th career NHL game on Feb. 2 against Vegas.

• 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).

KREIDING INTO THE HISTORY BOOKS

On Saturday night, Chris Kreider tied Camille Henry for the most power play goals in franchise history with 116.

He ranks tied for second on the Rangers with 17 goals this season, with six of his 17 goals being game-winning tallies. His career total of 50 GWGs are the second most in Rangers history behind Rod Gilbert’s 52 and he is the eighth active American skater to score 50 career game-winning goals

Since 2021-22, Kreider’s 12 shorthanded goals are the most in the NHL. His 12 career shorthanded goals are tied for fourth place on the franchise’s all-time list. The total is the third-most shorthanded goals among active American players behind Cam Atkinson (19) and Blake Coleman (17).

Also since 2021-22, his 58 power play goals rank tied for third in the NHL.

BLUESHIRT BULLETS

• Will Cuylle ranks fourth in the NHL in hits (209).
• Braden Schneider is one of nine players with 90+ hits and 90+ blocked shots and the only one who averages 18 minutes or less of ice time per game.
• K’Andre Miller’s 40 takeaways are tied for the fourth most in the NHL.
• The Rangers have posted a 66-11-4 record in the 81 regular season games where Alexis Lafrenière has scored a goal in his NHL career.
• The Blueshirts are 18-4-0 this season when Reilly Smith notches a point and 9-1-0 when he scores a goal.
• Vincent Trocheck and Will Cuylle are two of five NHL players with 14+ goals, 25+ points and 140+ hits.