RANGERS VS. WILD
All-Time: 16-14-0 (8-6-0 at home; 8-8-0 on the road)
Last season, the Rangers fell in both contests to the Wild, 3-2 at home on January 28 on Henrik Lundqvist jersey retirement night and then 5-2 on March 8 in St. Paul.
Mika Zibanejad (1G-1A) and Jacob Trouba (2A) had two points apiece against the Wild last season. Among current Rangers, Artemi Panarin leads the way with 18 career points (5G-13A) against Minnesota. Barclay Goodrow is a career plus-9 against the Wild in 11 career games.
RANGERS AND WILD CONNECTIONS
• Mats Zuccarello played parts of nine seasons with the Rangers (2010-11 - 2011-12; 2012-13 - 2018-19).
• Ryan Lindgren is a native of Burnsville, Minnesota; the Wild were his favorite team growing up, and his favorite player was Ryan Suter.
• K'Andre Miller is a native of St. Paul, Minnesota and attended Minnetonka High School.
Pregame Notes: Rangers at Wild - 10.13.22
STRONG START
The Rangers began their 2022-23 season with a win over Tampa Bay in a Eastern Conference Final rematch, outshooting them 39-26 in the process. New York opened the season with a shorthanded goal in the second period off the stick of Mika Zibanjead. It marked the first time since goals by type were officially tracked (since 1933-34) that the Rangers have scored a shorthanded goal as their first goal of the season. Over the last 20 years, a NHL team has only done it 11 times with the last occurrence being San Jose's first goal last season.
• In the win, the Rangers went 30-for-47 in the faceoff circle for a 63.8 faceoff win percentage. It was the fifth highest FOW% for New York since the 2018-19 season and highest since Dec. 15, 2021 at ARI (66.1%).
• Eight different Rangers recorded a point in the win.
• Ryan Carpenter and Vincent Trocheck made their Rangers debut, Carpenter recording an assist.
• Jacob Trouba played his first game as captain of the Rangers, leading the team in ice time with a 25:49 mark.
ROAD WARRIORS
Away from Madison Square Garden last season, the Rangers were 25-14-2 for 52 points, ranking tied for first in road wins and tied for seventh in road points. Their 25 wins were tied for the third most in team history.
On the road, the Rangers' 27.8 power play percentage ranked second in the league and second in franchise history for a single season (1978-79 - 28.9).
MIKA'S MISSION
Mika Zibanejad raced out to a fast start in New York's opener on Tuesday night, scoring two goals - one shorthanded and one on the power play - and recording a team-high nine shots. It marked the fourth time in his career he has collected a SHG and PPG in the same game (10/11/22 vs. TBL, 3/17/21 vs. PHI, 10/5/19 at OTT, 10/23/18 vs. FLA).
Zibanejad became the fifth player since 1933-34 (since goals by type were tracked) to score a shorthanded goal and a power-play goal in their team's season-opening game. The others: George Armstrong (Oct. 10, 1962 w/ TOR), Adam Graves (Oct. 5, 1996 w/ NYR), Matt Cooke (Oct. 6, 2011 w/ PIT) and Alex Ovechkin (Oct. 13, 2021 w/ WSH).
His nine shorthanded tallies with the Rangers rank ninth in team history. Overall, it was Zibanejad's 11th career goal shorthanded. In addition, Zibanejad's nine shots on goal tied a career-high he previously set on March 14, 2018 against Pittsburgh.
In 2021-22, Zibanejad recorded regular season career-highs in assists (52) and points (81) and was a team-leading plus- 30. In addition, he had career-high tying 15 power play goals. Zibanejad was one of three centers in the NHL last season (Barkov, Lindholm) to record 80-plus points and a plus-30 rating or better.
In the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Zibanejad finished tied for sixth in the NHL with 24 points and tied for seventh in goals (10). Zibanejad also had six power play tallies, matching Adam Graves' six in 1996 for the most by a Ranger in a single postseason.
PANARIN'S POINTS
On Tuesday night, Artemi Panarin recorded his 250th point with as Ranger (71G-179A). Since Panarin made his Rangers debut on Oct. 3, 2019, his 250 points rank fifth in the NHL behind Connor McDavid (325), Leon Draisaitl (304), Jonathan Huberdeau (254) and Auston Matthews (252).
In 2021-22, Artemi Panarin recorded a career-high 74 assists and 96 points, becoming the first forward in team history to record 74 assists in a season. His assist total was third most in a single season by a Ranger, behind Brian Leetch (1991-92 - 80) and Sergei Zubov (1993-94 - 77).
Panarin's 96 points were the most by a Ranger since Jaromir Jagr in 2006-07 and tied for the 11th most in team history.
A LOOK BACK AT 2021-22
With a new president and general manager in Chris Drury and a new head coach in Gerard Gallant, the Rangers brought a new look to last season and turned it into 52 wins and a trip to the Eastern Conference Final.
The Rangers ranked sixth in the NHL in wins, tied for seventh in points, and tied for fourth in regulation wins. The Blueshirts' 52 wins were tied for second most in team history (2014-15 - 53) and their 110 points were the third most in a single season in franchise history behind 2014-15 (113) and 1993-94 (112).
In addition, last year the Rangers were the 10th team in NHL history and first since Pittsburgh in 2011-12 to finish with at least 50 wins, at least 100 points, and have a 50-goal scorer, a 90-point scorer, and a goalie with at least 36 wins.
VEZINA WORTHY WINNER
In 2021-22, Igor Shesterkin became the sixth Ranger to win the Vezina Trophy, given "to the goaltender adjudged to be the best at his position," as selected by NHL general managers. Shesterkin joined Henrik Lundqvist (2011-12), John Vanbiesbrouck (1985-86), Ed Giacomin & Gilles Villemure* (1970-71), and Dave Kerr (1939-40) with the recognition.
Last season, Shesterkin led the NHL with a 2.07 goals-against average and .935 save percentage, while tallying a 36-13-4 record and six shutouts. He became the third goaltender in NHL history (min. 50 appearances) to post a save percentage of .935 or higher in a single season, joining Tim Thomas (2010-11 - .938) and Dominik Hasek (1998-99 - .937). Shesterkin's 36 wins ranked sixth in the NHL and his six shutouts ranked third in the league.
KREIDING INTO A 12th SEASON
Chris Kreider, the longest tenured active Ranger, broke both personal and franchise records in 2021-22 with a 52-goal output and 26 coming on the power play. Kreider set franchise records in power play goals (26) and game-winning goals (11), while his 52 goals tied Adam Graves (1993-94) for the second most goals in franchise history. Kreider's season marked the 17th time in NHL history that a player has recorded 52+ goals and 26+ power play goals in a season, the most recent before Kreider was Ilya Kovalchuk in 2005-06 with Atlanta.
In addition, Kreider is the only player in NHL history to record 50+ goals, 25+ power play goals, three+ shorthanded goals and 10+ game winning goals in the same season.
O CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN
On August 9, 2022, the Rangers named defenseman Jacob Trouba the 28th captain in franchise history and their first since 2017-18. The Rochester, Michigan native is the fourth straight American-born skater the Rangers have selected as captain making the Blueshirts the first franchise in NHL history to have four consecutive full-time American-born captains (Trouba, McDonagh, Callahan, Drury).
Last season, Trouba scored a career-high 11 goals and notched 28 assists for 39 points in 81 games, as well as posting a career-high plus-25 rating. His 11 goals were tied with Adam Fox for the most among Rangers defenseman in 2021-22. Trouba tallied 177 blocked shots last year, the second most in the NHL, to go along with his 207 hits. He was the only player in the NHL in 2021-22 to record both 175-plus blocked shots and 200-plus hits and was the first Ranger since Dan Girardi in 2014-15 to notch both in the same season.
NEW BLUESHIRTS
The Rangers added multiple players through free agent signings and trades this offseason, including forwards Ryan Carpenter and Vincent Trocheck as well as goaltender Jaroslav Halak.
Carpenter notched three goals and nine assists for 12 points in 67 games with the Calgary Flames (8 GP) and Chicago Blackhawks (59 GP) in 2021-22. Prior to being dealt by Chicago on March 21, 2022, Carpenter ranked tied for third on the club in faceoff percentage (min. 100 faceoffs) with a 52.3 percent clip and third in shorthanded time-on-ice (128:14).
Trocheck skated in 81 games for the Carolina Hurricanes in 2021-22, registering 21 goals and 30 assists for 51 points and a career-high plus-21 rating. Trocheck ranked third on the Hurricanes with a career-high 185 hits, tied for fourth in points and fifth in goals. He was one of four players in the NHL last season with 50 or more points and 180 or more hits (Trocheck, Tom Wilson, Brady Tkachuk, Andrei Svechnikov). Among NHL skaters with 1,200 or more faceoffs taken, he ranked 13th in the league with a 54.6 faceoff percentage. In addition, the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania native led all Carolina forwards in blocked shots (46) and ranked second among forwards in ice time per game (17:52) and takeaways (50).
Halak has appeared in 556 career NHL games (531 starts), split between the Vancouver Canucks (2021-22), Boston Bruins (2018-19 - 2020-21), New York Islanders (2014-15 - 2017-18), Washington Capitals (2013-14), St. Louis Blues (2010-11 - 2013- 14), and Montreal Canadiens (2006-07 - 2009-10). He has compiled a 285-18-4 record, .916 save percentage and 2.49 goals against average across 16 NHL seasons. The Bratislava, Slovakia native made 17 appearances (14 starts) in his first season with the Canucks in 2021-22, posting a 4-7-2 record, 2.94 goals against average and .903 save percentage. He made a season-high 39 saves on November 28, 2021 at Boston.
FOX'S FURY
Rangers defenseman Adam Fox followed up his Norris Trophy winning season in 2020-21 with a strong year on the blueline in 2021-22. Last year, Fox ranked third among NHL defensemen in assists (63) and fourth in points (74). Fox's point total was the ninth most in franchise history by a defenseman and his assist total was the fifth most in a single season by a Rangers defenseman.
Fox followed up his regular season with five goals and 18 assists for 23 points in 20 playoff games. He ranked second behind Cale Makar (29) for playoff points among defensemen.
THE KIDS, THE KIDS, THE KIDS
Last year in the playoffs, the forward line of Filip Chytil (\22), Kaapo Kakko (21) and Alexis Lafrenière (20) combined to lead a charge of youth through the Rangers lineup. Those three combined for 33 points in the postseason with Chytil and Lafrenière each recording nine points. \Ages at time of playoffs.
Only four skaters in Rangers history recorded more postseason goals before age 23 than Chytil's seven last spring.
