RANGERS RUNDOWN
- The New York Rangers close out this two-game road trip with a Saturday evening affair against the Florida Panthers (5:00 PM ET - TV: MSG Network - Radio: ESPN 98.7 FM). Beginning tonight, the Blueshirts have 10 more games in the regular season.
- New York will play four of its next five games on the road. The Rangers have points in four-straight road games (3-0-1) and 15 of their last 18 contests (10-3-5). In the NHL, the Blueshirts' .686 road point percentage ranks sixth, 3.29 GF/GP ranks ninth, and 2.54 GA/GP is third in the league.
- New York has points in eight of their last nine games (7-1-1) and wins in five of their last six.
- Since December 5, New York is 31-10-5 for 67 points. In the NHL in that span, the Rangers rank tied for second in points, third in wins, points percentage (.728), and power play percentage (24.2), while also ranking fourth in goals per game (3.54).
- The Blueshirts have 20 comeback victories this season, the fourth most in the NHL. New York is 14-2-5 when tied after two periods - their 14 wins are the most in the NHL.
- The Blueshirts have scored 17 goals over their last four games and four or more goals in four of their last six contests. New York has scored six goals in a game 13 times this season and five or more goals in a game 21 times this season. Both rank third in the NHL. When scoring four or more goals, New York is 28-0-0 and one of two teams in the NHL (VGK) to have a perfect such record.
- New York has earned at least one point in nine out of its last 11 matchups (7-2-2) and 14 of its last 17 games (10-3-4) with Florida. In those 17 games, the Blueshirts are averaging 4.12 goals per game against the Panthers.
- On the road against the Panthers, the Rangers are 8-3-1 in their last 12 games.
- With Vincent Trocheck's next goal, he would join Kreider, Zibanejad, Chytil and Panarin to hit the 20-goal mark this season. The last season to feature five different 20-goal scorers for the Ranger was 2015-16 (Derick Brassard, Mats Zuccarello, J.T. Miller, Derek Stepan and Chris Kreider).
- The Rangers defensemen group has compiled 175 points, the third most in the NHL.
Pregame Notes: Rangers at Panthers - 03.25.23
RANGERS AND PANTHERS CONNECTIONS
MIKA MARCH
Mika Zibanejad has 11 points in his last six games (5G-6A), 19 points in his last 14 (7G-12A) and 30 points in his last 23 games (15G-15A). With 79 points, he is two away from tying his career high of 81 set last year.
Zibanejad has thrived in the month of March over his career, totaling 129 points (62G-67A) in 152 games played.
Among NHL forwards, Zibanejad is one of three that has a plus-24 rating or better and 79-plus points this year (Pastrnak, Robertson).
Zibanejad has tallied 19 of his goals on the power play, a new career-high for him and the third most in the NHL. With one more power play goal, the Rangers will become the first team since the 1992-93 & 1993-94 Boston Bruins to have a different player score 20+ power-play goals in back-to-back seasons as Kreider had 20+ last year.
PANARIN'S POINTS
Artemi Panarin has points in five of his last six games (4G-5A) and 10 of his last 13 games (6G-11A), including five multi- point efforts. Panarin has reached the 80-point plateau for the fifth time in his career.
In the NHL this season, Panarin's 14 multi-assist games rank tied for ninth and since 2019-20, Panarin's 96 multi-point games are the fifth most in the NHL.
KREIDING TO MAKE HISTORY
Chris Kreider has five goals in his last seven games and 32 goals on the season, making him just the third Rangers skater in the past 25 years to post consecutive 30-goal campaigns, joining Mika Zibanejad (2 from 2018-19 - 2019-20) and Jaromir Jagr (2 from 2005-06 - 2006-07).
Kreider has three game-winning goals this season and 37 game-winning goals in his career, tied with Brian Leetch for the sixth most in franchise history.
Kreider has points in eight of his last 12 games (8G-2A).
ADAM'S APPLES
Adam Fox has points in six-straight games (1G-5A), eight in his last nine games and 14 in his last 18 contests. He has 54 assists on the season, tied for the third most among NHL defenseman.
Fox has 12 career game-winning goal, tied with Ott Heller, Dan Girardi and Harry Howell for fifth place on the Rangers' all-time list among defensemen.
Fox is the seventh defenseman in NHL history and first in franchise history to record multiple 50-assist seasons in the first four years of a career. Fox is the second defenseman in Rangers history with consecutive 50-assist seasons, joining Brian Leetch (1990-91-1991-92 & 1995-96-1996-97) and overall he is now the ninth different Rangers player to record 50+ assists in consecutive seasons.
When he records multiple points, the Rangers are 13-0-0.
BLUESHIRT BULLETS
- Among NHL players with 15 minutes or less per game, Filip Chytil has the second most goals (20) and is tied for the most points (39). He scored his 20th goal of the season on Sunday and became the seventh Rangers player in the past 20 years to record a 20-goal season at age 23 or younger. He joins Pavel Buchnevich (21 in 2018-19), J.T. Miller (22 in 2015-16), Chris Kreider (21 in 2014-15), Derek Stepan (21 in 2010-11), Brandon Dubinsky (20 in 2009-10) and Petr Prucha (30 in 2005 06).
- K'Andre Miller has established career-highs in goals (8), assists (30) and points (38) this season. Miller has six points (2G- 4A) in his last four games and eight points in his last eight games.
- Vincent Trocheck has points in five of his last six games (8A) and has points in eight of his last 13 games (2G-11A). His 38 assists this season are the second most in his career (44 - 2017-18 with FLA).
- Igor Shesterkin has 33 wins on the year, the second most in the NHL and has wins in six of his last seven games. With 94 career wins in 150 career games, Shesterkin became the seventh goaltender in NHL history with 94-plus victories through his first 150 NHL games (Bill Durnan, Michel Larocque, Frank Brimsek, Tiny Thompson, Chris Osgood, Bob Froese).
- Patrick Kane has 1,232 points in his NHL career, tied with Phil Housley for second place on the League's all-time list among U.S.-born players. In his last nine games, Kane has seven points (3G-4A).
- Jacob Trouba has points in seven of his last 11 games (4G-6A) and multi-point games in two of four games. He ranks second in the NHL with 180 blocked shots.
- Vladimir Tarasenko has points in four of his last six games (1G-4A) and 10 points in his last 12 games (3G-7A).
- Jaroslav Halak has points (8-2-2) in 10 of his last 12 starts and posted his first shutout with the Blueshirts on Mar. 19 against Nashville.
- The Rangers own a 65-13-4 record when Mika Zibanejad, Artemi Panarin, and Chris Kreider all three record a point.
SPECIAL TEAMS
- On the penalty kill, New York has been perfect in 10 of its last 11 games.
- New York's 22.7 power play percentage ranks ninth in the NHL and 24.0 road PP% is sixth in the NHL. - Since the trade deadline on March 3, the Blueshirts' 92.3 PK percentage ranks first in the NHL.
