Pregame Notes: Rangers vs. Blackhawks

RANGERS RUNDOWN

• The New York Rangers hosts the Chicago Blackhawks in an Original Six matchup at Madison Square Garden (7:00 PM ET - TV: MSG Network - Radio: ESPN 98.7 FM).
• The Rangers have the NHL’s most wins (25), tied for the second most points (51), and second highest points percentage (.708).
• The Rangers became the first team in the NHL to reach the 50-point mark (51 PTS) with their win last Saturday, for the first time since 1993-94. The 2023-24 campaign marks the fifth time in franchise history the club has reached the mark in 35 or fewer games, following 1971-72 (33 GP), 1970-71 (34 GP), 1993-94 (35 GP) and 1939-40 (35 GP).
• In games following a loss this season, the Blueshirts are 9-1-0.
• New York finished the 2023 calendar year with a 53-19-8 regular season record for 114 points, ranking third in the NHL in both wins and points. Its .713 point percentage ranked second in the NHL last calendar year.
• Against Western Conference opponents, the Rangers are 11-3-1 and are 4-2-1 against Central Division.
• The Rangers have won five of their last six games against the Blackhawks dating back to the 2018-19 season.
• At home, New York is 12-5-0 for 24 points and their .706 home point percentage ranks tied for sixth in the NHL.
• When scoring four or more goals in a game, the Blueshirts are 15-0-1 and 17-0-0 when allowing two or fewer goals in a game.
• The Blueshirts have scored at least one power play goal in nine of their last 11 games. New York has the NHL’s second best power play percentage (30.1) and the fourth most (tied) power play goals in the league (34).
• The Rangers’ 53.9 faceoff percentage is tied for the third highest in the NHL. Since 1997-98 when the league started tracking FOW%, the team hasn’t finished a season over 53.3 percent.
• The Rangers have 12 comeback wins on the season, the third most in the NHL, and six wins when trailing at any point in the third period, tied for the most in the NHL.
• New York has 92 points from defensemen, the fifth most in the NHL.

RANGERS AND BLACKHAWKS CONNECTIONS

• Artemi Panarin began his NHL career with Chicago and played two seasons with the Blackhawks (2015-16 and 2016-17). He won the Calder Trophy as the NHL’s Rookie of the Year in 2015-16 and was named to the NHL’s Second All-Star Team at Left Wing in 2016-17.
• Erik Gustafsson played the first four seasons of his career with the Blackhawks (2015-16 – 2019-20) and then again during the 2021-22 season.
• Blackhawks Associate General Manager Norm Maciver played parts of three seasons with the Rangers (1986-87 – 1988- 89).
• Jarred Tinordi played in seven games for the Rangers last season, recording one goal.
• Colin Blackwell skated in 47 games for the Blueshirts in 2020-21, recording 22 points (12G-10A).
• Ryan Donato is the son of Ted Donato, who played one season with the Rangers (2002-03). Ted also coached Adam Fox and Jimmy Vesey at Harvard University.
• Rangers associate coach Phil Housley played two seasons for the Blackhawks from 2001-02 – 2002-03.

PANARIN’S POINTS

Artemi Panarin has points in five-straight games (6G-2A), 10 of his last 11 games (7G-7A) and in 15 of his last 18 games (13G-12A).

He has notched a point in 30 of his 36 games this year, tied for the second most games with a point in the NHL this season (Nylander and MacKinnon lead with 31).

Panarin was named the NHL’s Second Star of the Week for the week ending Dec. 31 after compiling six points (1G-5A) in three games.

Panarin finished 2023 with 101 points and joined Mark Messier (1995 & 1992) as the only players in Rangers history to record 100 points in multiple calendar years.

MIKA MADNESS

Mika Zibanejad is coming off a career-long point streak of 10-straight games (8G-9A) and has points in 18 of his last 20 contests (12G-15A). Since November 22, he has been one of the leading scorers in the NHL.

KREIDING TO MAKE HISTORY

Chris Kreider has a career-long tying (Jan. 27-Feb. 17, 2023, Oct. 29-Nov. 10, 2022) point streak of seven games (3G-7A) and has 12 points (5G-7A) in his last 10 games.

On Tuesday, Kreider recorded his 166th career goal at MSG (regular season and playoffs) to surpass Rod Gilbert for the most in the building’s 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
• Became the fifth Ranger to tally 100 career power play goals.

FORECHECK, BACKCHECK, TROCHECK

Vincent Trocheck has eight points in his last eight games (3G-5A), 11 points in his last 11 games (3G-8A) and 31 points (8G-23A) in his past 30 games.

Trocheck is one of three players in the NHL to have both 30 or more points and 50 or more hits. Others: J.T. Miller and Filip Forsberg.

Among NHL skaters with 500 or more faceoffs, Trocheck ranks first in faceoff percentage (62.4).

ADAM’S APPLES

Adam Fox has assists in two of his last four games, assists/points in 10 of his last 15 games (13A) and overall has points in 18 of 26 games this season (3G-21A).

In the NHL among defensemen, Fox has the sixth most points per game (0.92) and his seven power play points rank tied for second among blueliners.

Since his rookie season in 2019-20, Fox has been one of the best defensemen in the NHL.

SLAP SHOTS

• Jacob Trouba’s 116 blocked shots are the most in the NHL and has assists in back-to-back games.
• Nick Bonino ranks first among forwards with 63 blocked shots and since 2021-22, Bonino leads all forwards in blocked shots with 244. Bonino is one assist away from 200 in his career.
• Will Cuylle ranks first among rookies in hits with 90.
• Blake Wheeler has points in five of his last seven games and nine points (3G-6A) in his past 10 games.
• Alexis Lafreniere has points in three of his last four games (1G-3A) and has in five of his last seven contests (2G-4A).
• The Rangers have a regular season record of 42-11-6 when Kreider and Zibanejad score a goal in the same game.