Rangers vs. Predators: Pregame Notes

The New York Rangers begin a back-to-back set, with a matchup against the Nashville Predators on Sunday night (7:00 PM ET - TV: MSG 2 - Radio: ESPN 1050 AM). Sunday's contest is Pride Night, presented by Delta Air Lines at MSG.

RANGERS RUNDOWN

• On Saturday afternoon, the Rangers acquired defenseman Calvin de Haan, forward Juuso Parssinen, a conditional second-round pick and a conditional fourth-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft from the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for Ryan Lindgren, Jimmy Vesey, and the rights to unsigned draft pick Hank Kempf.
• The Blueshirts have victories in five of their last eight games, including two of three and three of their last five contests.
• The Rangers have recorded a point in 16 of their 23 games (13-7-3) since the beginning of the 2025 calendar year. Since Jan. 2, the club ranks tied for eighth in the NHL in wins (13) and tied for seventh in points (29).
• New York is 7-4-1 in its last 12 contests at MSG.
• Since Jan. 2, the Blueshirts rank third in the NHL in goals scored (77) and have scored three or more goals in 15 of their last 23 games, including 12 games with four or more tallies. New York has scored three or more goals in seven of its last 11 games.
• The Blueshirts rank fourth in the NHL in penalty kill percentage (82.2) and their 10 shorthanded goals are tied for the second most in the league.
• 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 - 882 GP).
• Sam Carrick is set to play in his 300th career NHL game.
• The Rangers rank second in the NHL in faceoff percentage (53.7) and have been 50 percent or better in 42 of 59 games this season (71.2 percent), including 12 of their last 15 games.
• The Rangers have had 25 different players score a goal this season, tied for the second most in the NHL, and 27 unique point getters, the fifth most in the league. In their last 15 games, 21 Rangers skaters have notched a point and 20 have scored a goal.
• When the Blueshirts score four or more goals in a game, they are 18-3-3 and when they allow two or fewer goals, they are 24-2-0. The Rangers have allowed two or fewer goals in 24 of 29 victories this season.
• Since the start of last season, the Rangers have posted a 62-2-0 record in 64 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 16-3-2 when leading after one period and 20-1-2 when leading after the second period.

RANGERS AND PREDATORS CONNECTIONS

• Rangers forward Juuso Parssinen played parts of his first three seasons with the Predators from 2022-23 - 2024-25.
• Predators defenseman Brady Skjei was drafted by the Rangers in 2012 and played parts of five seasons with the Blueshirts (2015-16 – 2019-20).
• Rangers head coach Peter Laviolette coached the Predators from 2014-15 to 2019-20, earning a trip to the Stanley Cup Final in 2017.
• Rangers assistant coach Dan Muse was an assistant coach for the Predators from 2017-18 to 2019-20.

PRIDE NIGHT

The New York Rangers will celebrate Pride Night, presented by Delta Air Lines, on Sunday night against the Nashville Predators at Madison Square Garden.

The Rangers will partner with members of the LGBTQ+ community for various parts of the evening, including the national anthem and the NYPD Color Guard presenting Pride & Transgender flags. As the presenting partner, the Rangers will also spotlight an Honorary Employee from Delta Air Lines in-arena.

On Sunday night, the Rangers will welcome 40 youth to the game. The youth invited are from Garden of Dreams partners, SCAN Harbor and You Gotta Believe’s pride programs from Harlem and Brooklyn. The Rangers will recognize Callen-Lorde, which provides quality health care and related services targeted to New York's LGBTQ+ communities, as the Community Captain Award recipient and make a $10,000 donation.

MIKA MARCH

Mika Zibanejad has 13 points in his last nine games (4G-9A) and 15 points in his last 14 games (5G-10A). When he scores a goal this year, the Rangers are 9-3-1 and 8-1-0 when has multiple points.

In the month of February, Zibanejad tied for the most points in the NHL (13) and tied for the fourth most assists (9). Since the 2017-18 season in the month of March, Zibanejad ranks tied for fourth in goals (50) and eighth in points (101).

Zibanejad's 243 goals are the 10th most in franchise history and three shy of tying Steve Vickers for the ninth most. 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).

MILLER TIME

J.T. Miller has 10 points (5G-5A) in nine games with the Blueshirts, including four multi-point games. He has 16 points (6G-10A) in his last 15 games.

Since Jan. 18, Miller's eight power play points rank tied for sixth in the NHL.

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 329 points are the 13th most in the NHL.

POINT PER-GAME PANARIN

Artemi Panarin has nine points in his last 11 games (3G-6A) and 20 points (7G-13A) in his last 20 games.

Panarin is one point 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 (59), power play goals (8), power play points (20) and shots (170).

Panarin has at least one point in 39 of his 57 games (68.4%) this year. Since 2023-24, he has points in 106 of 141 games, the third most in the NHL.

Since the beginning of last season, his 179 points (72G-107A) rank sixth in the NHL.

Going back further, among NHL skaters since his debut in 2015-16, Panarin has the fourth most assists (552) and fifth most points in the NHL (840).

TROCHECK IN THE CIRCLE

Vincent Trocheck ranks fourth in the NHL in faceoff percentage (59.9) and faceoff wins (680).

He has six points in his last seven games (2G-4A) and eight points in his last 11 games (3G-5A). On the Blueshirts, Trocheck ranks tied for second in goals (17), fourth in points (38) and assists (21). His 152 shots are the second most on the team.

Trocheck ranks eighth among NHL forwards in average ice time (21:16).

KREIDING INTO THE HISTORY BOOKS

On February 22 in Buffalo, 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

• Vincent Trocheck and Will Cuylle are two of five NHL players with 15+ goals, 25+ points and 150+ hits.
• K’Andre Miller’s 43 takeaways are tied for the third most in the NHL among defensemen. He is the only player in the NHL with 80 or more hits and 40 or more takeaways.
• Since 2021-22, Igor Shesterkin ranks tied for third in wins (129), tied for second in save percentage (.918) and fourth in GAA (2.49). This season, Shesterkin has allowed one or fewer goals in 10 of 20 wins and two or fewer goals in 17 of 20 wins.
• Will Cuylle ranks third in the NHL in hits (221).
• Braden Schneider is one of eight NHL players with 95+ hits and 100+ blocked shots and the only one who averages 18 minutes or less of ice time per game.
• 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 20-4-0 this season when Reilly Smith notches a point and 9-1-0 when he scores a goal.