Pregame Notes: Rangers vs. Hurricanes

RANGERS RUNDOWN

• The New York Rangers begin 2024 with a Metropolitan Division matchup against the Carolina Hurricanes 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), points (51), and highest points percentage (.729).
• The Rangers became the first team in the NHL to reach the 50-point mark (51 PTS) with their win on 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).
• The Blueshirts have won six of their last eight games and 10 of their last 15 contests.
• 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.
• The Rangers’ plus-26 goal differential ranks first in the Eastern Conference and fourth in the NHL.
• The Blueshirts have won 10 of their last 14 regular season games against the Hurricanes and have wins in 11 out of their last 16 games against them. At home, New York is 19-4-0 in its last 23 contests against Carolina.
• At home, New York is 12-4-0 for 24 points and their .750 home point percentage ranks tied for fourth in the NHL.
• In the month of January, the Rangers will play 14 games with six on home ice.
• 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.
• Against Eastern Conference opponents, the Rangers are 14-6-0 and are 6-2-0 against Metropolitan Division.
• The Blueshirts have scored at least one power play goal in nine of their last 10 games. New York has the NHL’s best power play percentage (30.9) and the second most (tied with Carolina) power play goals in the league (34).
• The Rangers’ 54.1 faceoff percentage is 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.
• New York has the league’s fifth best penalty kill percentage (84.9) and have had a perfect PK in six of their last eight and eight of its last 12 games.
• 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 91 points from defensemen, the fifth most in the NHL.

RANGERS AND HURRICANES CONNECTIONS

• Vincent Trocheck played parts of three seasons for the Hurricanes (2019-20 – 2021-22). From the time he was acquired by the Hurricanes on February 24, 2020 until 2021-22, Trocheck ranked third on the team in points (96), tied for third in assists (57), fourth in goals (39), and second in power play goals (14).
• Rangers head coach Peter Laviolette was the head coach for the Hurricanes from 2003-04 to 2008-09, winning the Stanley Cup with the franchise in 2006.
• Jesper Fast played parts of seven seasons with the Rangers (2013-14 – 2019-20). While playing for the Rangers, Fast received the Players Player Award five seasons in a row (2015-16 – 2019-20).
• Tony DeAngelo played parts of four seasons with the Rangers (2017-18 – 2020-21).
• Brady Skjei played parts of five seasons with the Rangers (2015-16 – 2019-20).
• Antti Raanta played two seasons with the Rangers (2015-16 and 2016-17).
• Adam Fox was acquired by the Rangers from Carolina on Apr. 30, 2019. -Brendan Lemieux played for the Rangers from 2018-19 to 2020-21.
• Jack Drury is the nephew of Rangers president and GM Chris Drury.

PANARIN’S POINTS

Artemi 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 has points in nine of his last 10 games (7G-6A) and in 14 of his last 17 games (13G-11A).

He has notched a point in 29 of his 35 games this year, tied for the third most games with a point in the NHL this season (Nylander and MacKinnon lead with 30).

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 has points in a career long 10-straight games (8G-9A) and points in 18 of his last 19 contests (12G-15A).

On Wednesday against Washington, Zibanejad played in his 800th career NHL game. His 281 goals were the fifth-most by a Swedish-born player through 800 games behind only Mats Sundin (340), Daniel Alfredsson (306), Markus Naslund (297) and Henrik Zetterberg (289).

KREIDING TO MAKE HISTORY

Chris Kreider continues to change the Rangers record books as he surpassed Adam Graves for the 10th most points in team history (508) last Thursday. On Dec. 15 against Anaheim, Kreider scored two goals to surpass Adam Graves for the third most goals in Rangers history (281), recorded his 500th career point and became the fifth Ranger to tally 100 career power play goals.

Kreider has points in six consecutive games (2G-7A), tied for the third longest of his career. Kreider has 11 points (4G-7A) in his last nine games and 26 points in his last 28 contests (13G-13A).

Kreider also has 41 game winning goals with the Rangers, tied with Mark Messier for the fourth most in team history.

FORECHECK, BACKCHECK, TROCHECK

Vincent Trocheck has eight points in his last seven games (3G-5A), 11 points in his last 10 games (3G-8A) and 31 points (8G-23A) in his past 29 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 three games, assists/points in 10 of his last 14 games (13A) and overall has points in 18 of 25 games this season (3G-21A).

In the NHL among defensemen, Fox has the sixth most points per game (0.96) 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

• Igor Shesterkin has wins in his last five starts and has allowed two or fewer goals in four of them. In those five wins, he has compiled a league-high (min. four starts) .946 save percentage and 1.58 goals-against average. Since 2021-22, it is the 45th time he has allowed one or fewer goals in a game, the most in the NHL.
• Jacob Trouba’s 113 blocked shots are the most in the NHL.
• Nick Bonino ranks first among forwards with 62 blocked shots and since 2021-22, Bonino leads all forwards in blocked shots with 243. Bonino is one assist away from 200 in his career.
• Will Cuylle ranks first among rookies in hits with 88.
• Blake Wheeler has points in five of his last six games and nine points (3G-6A) in his past nine games.
• Alexis Lafreniere has a point streak of three games (1G-3A) and has points in five of his last six 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.