Pregame Notes: Rangers at Bruins

RANGERS RUNDOWN

• The New York Rangers head to Boston for an Original Six matchup against the Bruins on Thursday night at TD Garden (7:00 PM ET - TV: MSG 2 - Radio: ESPN 1050 AM).
• New York has win in five of its last seven games and points in 19 of its last 24 contests (17-5-2). The Blueshirts’ 45 wins are tied for the most in the NHL while their 94 points rank tied for second in the league.
• The Rangers have won 45 games for a third consecutive season. There are only two other stretches in franchise history that spanned three or more consecutive campaigns: 2013-14 to 2016-17 (4) and 1970-71 to 1972-73 (3).
• Tonight, Peter Laviolette will coach in his 1,500th game, becoming the ninth head coach in NHL history to reach the feat.
• On the road, the Blueshirts have a 21-11-4 record for 36 points, ranking tied for second in road wins. New York has points in 10 out of its last 12 contests (8-2-2).
• When scoring four or more goals, the Rangers are 26-0-1 and when allowing two or fewer goals, the team is 33-1-0. The Rangers’ 2.70 GA/GP ranks tied for the sixth best in the league.
• New York has accumulated 20 comeback victories this season, tied for the fourth most in the NHL.
• The Rangers have a league-high tying five players (Zibanejad, Kreider, Trocheck, Panarin, Fox) with 50 or more points this season, three players with 60-plus points, and five players with 20 or more goals.
• New York has the NHL’s sixth best power play percentage (25.6) and fifth best penalty kill percentage (83.2). - New York has accumulated 173 points from defensemen this season, the third most in the NHL.
• In the last 37 games (since Dec. 27), Artemi Panarin (50 pts - 20G-30A) and Vincent Trocheck (37 pts - 16G-21A) have recorded a combined 87 points (36G-51A).
• The Rangers’ .875 win percentage (7-1) in five-minute overtime session ranks first in the league.

RANGERS AND BRUINS CONNECTIONS

• Chris Kreider is a native of Boxford, MA, Jimmy Vesey hails from Boston, MA and Peter Laviolette is from Franklin, MA. - Blake Wheeler broke into the league with Boston, skating from 2008-09 – 2010-11 with the team.
• Ryan Lindgren was selected by the Bruins in the second round (49th overall) of the 2016 NHL Entry Draft.
• Kevin Shattenkirk played two seasons with the Rangers (2017-18 and 2018-19)
• Jake DeBrusk is the son of Louie DeBrusk, who was selected by the Rangers in the third round (49th overall) of the 1989 NHL Entry Draft. Louie DeBrusk was traded by the Rangers to Edmonton as part of the transaction in which the Blueshirts acquired Mark Messier.
• 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.

PANARIN’S POINTS

In Artemi Panarin’s last 16 games, he has 26 points (7G-19A), seven games with 2+ points and five games with 3+ points.

His 23 road goals rank third in the NHL (Sam Reinhart leads with 26) and 50 road points are the second most in the league.

Panarin reached the 90-point plateau for the fourth time in five seasons. He is the first player in team history to notch the feat four times and is also the first to do so in three consecutive seasons.

With three more assists, Panarin (337 GP) can be the third player to register 300 career assists prior to his 400th game with the franchise (Mark Messier: 375 GP & Brian Leetch: 368 GP).

With 38 goals and 56 assists, Panarin is looking to become the first Rangers player since Jaromir Jagr in 2005-06 to have 40+ goals and 50+ assists.

Panarin ranks fifth in points (94) and seventh in the NHL in goals (38). His 38 goals are a career-high.

He has notched a point in 54 games this year, tied for the third most in the NHL and his 27 multi-point games rank fifth in the league.

NEXT ON FOX

Adam Fox has a point streak of five games (2G-4A), 17 points (4G-13A) in his last 16 games and 19 points (4G-15A) in his last 18 games. He ranks tied for seventh among NHL defensemen in points (57) and eighth in assists (45).

Fox’s 12 goals this season are tied for a career-high originally set last season.

Fox recorded his 40th assist on Feb. 9 to reach his fourth 40-assist season. The only other defensemen with as many 40-assist campaigns for the Rangers are Brian Leetch (10), James Patrick (5) and Brad Park (4).

Fox scored his 10th goal of the season on Feb. 28, making him the first Rangers defenseman since Brian Leetch (4 from 2000-01 – 2003-04) to record three straight 10-goal campaigns.

Since the 2019-20 season, Fox ranks fifth among NHL defensemen in points (292) and second in assists (244).

KREIDING HIGH

Chris Kreider played in his 800th career NHL game on Mar. 16 at Pittsburgh, becoming the 10th skater in team history to reach the feat. His 298 goals were the second highest total by any Rangers player through their first 800 games with the franchise, trailing only Jean Ratelle (306).

Kreider has 33 goals this season, nine in his last 16 games and 10 in his last 18 games. He has points in seven of his last 10 contests (4G-5A) and 15 points (9G-6A) in his last 16 games.

Since the 2021-22 season, Kreider’s 121 goals rank tied for sixth in the NHL and in that same time frame, his 47 power play goals rank third.

He is one power play goal from tying Brian Leetch (106) for the third most in franchise history. This season, Kreider has changed the Rangers record books:

• Surpassed Adam Graves for the third most goals in Rangers history (281)
• Surpassed Adam Graves for the 10th most points in team history (508)
• Recorded his 500th career point
• Surpassed Camille Henry for the fourth most road goals in franchise history (137)
• Tied Bill Cook for the third most game-winning goals in franchise history (42)
• Became the fifth Ranger to tally 100 career power play goals
• Recorded his 166th career goal at MSG (regular season and playoffs) to surpass Rod Gilbert for the most in the building’s history
• Notched his ninth 20-goal campaign in his career. Only two players in franchise history have recorded as many: Rod Gilbert (12x) and Jean Ratelle (9x).

NEW YORK NETMINDERS

The Rangers rank tied for fifth in the NHL in save percentage with a .908 mark and their 186 goals allowed this season are tied for the sixth fewest in the league.

In his last 13 games (since Feb. 12), Igor Shesterkin has posted a 9-3-1 record and three shutouts. He has allowed one or fewer goals in seven of his last 13 contests.

Shesterkin has earned points in 13 of his last 17 starts and his 29 wins rank tied for sixth in the NHL.

Shesterkin is 49-18-5 following a loss in his career – the seventh most wins among all goaltenders in that scenario since he debuted in 2019-20.

Jonathan Quick has won six of his last seven starts, allowing two or fewer goals in four of them. Among NHL goalies who have played 20 or more games this season, Quick ranks eighth in goals-against average (2.46) and tied for eighth in save percentage (.916).

Quick holds a 15-5-2 record this season. He is one win from tying Ryan Miller for the most wins among American-born goaltenders (391).

SLAP SHOTS

• Vincent Trocheck has points in eight of his last 10 games (4G-6A) and points in 13 of his last 16 games (9G-10A). He ranks second in the NHL (min. 700 FO) in faceoff percentage (59.3). His 65 points surpassed his season total from last year and are his second most in his career (75 in 2017-18 with FLA).
• Jack Roslovic has four points (1G-3A) in his last four games and 17 points (5G-12A) in his past 19 contests.
• Mika Zibanejad has points in four of his past six games (3G-1A). He has double-digit power play goals for a seventh straight season. The only other player that has reached 10-plus power play goals in the last seven seasons is Steven Stamkos.
• Alexis Lafreniere has established his career-high in goals (20), has points in four straight games (2G-3A) and 12 points in his last 15 games (5G-7A). The Blueshirts are 16-1-1 when he scores a goal this season.
• Will Cuylle ranks first among rookies and sixth in the NHL in hits with 223.
• The Rangers have a regular season record of 46-11-6 when Kreider and Zibanejad score a goal in the same game.