RANGERS RUNDOWN
- The New York Rangers finish a season-long, five-game homestand with the first of two meetings this week against the Carolina Hurricanes (7:00 PM ET - TV: MSG Network - Radio: ESPN 98.7 FM).
- With a win tonight, the Rangers will sweep a homestand of five-plus games for the second time in franchise history and first time since 1939-40 (5-0-0 from Dec. 19-31, 1939).
- New York has now scored 15 unanswered goals dating to March 16 - tied for the second most in franchise history and the most in the NHL this season.
- New York has points in seven-straight games (6-0-1) and wins in four-straight. It is their fourth separate point streak of seven plus games this year.
- At home, the Blueshirts have won 10 of their last 12 games and are 13-4-0 in their last 17 home games.
- Since December 5, New York is 30-9-5 for 65 points. In the NHL in that span, the Rangers rank tied for second in points, third in wins, points percentage (.739), and power play percentage (25.4), while also ranking fourth in goals per game (3.61).
- The Blueshirts have scored 13 goals over their last two games and four or more goals in four-straight 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.
- The Blueshirts have won eight of their last 11 regular season games against the Hurricanes and have wins in nine out \of their last 13 games against them. At home, New York is 18-3-0 in its last 21 contests against Carolina.
- It is the first time since Mark Messier and Wayne Gretzky in 1996-97 that two Rangers players (Artemi Panarin and Mika Zibanejad) have had 77-plus points within the team's first 70 games of a season.
- 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).
- When scoring first this year, the Blueshirts are 28-5-4 and 22-3-3 when leading after the second period. When tied after two periods, the Rangers have 13 wins, the most in the NHL.
- The Rangers defensemen group has compiled 172 points, the third most in the NHL.
Pregame Notes: Rangers vs. Hurricanes - 03.21.23
RANGERS AND HURRICANES CONNECTIONS
MIKA MARCH
Mika Zibanejad was named the First Star of the Week in the NHL after recording multi-point games in a career-long four straight games. Zibanejad has nine points in his last four games (5G-4A), 17 points in his last 12 (7G-10A) and 28 points in his last 21 games (15G-13A)
Zibanejad has thrived in the month of March over his career, totaling 127 points (62G-65A) in 150 games played.
Among NHL forwards, Zibanejad is one of three that has a plus-24 rating or better and 77-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 four-straight games (3G-4A) and nine of his last 11 games (5G-10A), including four 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 95 multi-point games are the fifth most in the NHL.
KREIDING TO MAKE HISTORY
Chris Kreider has five goals in his last five 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 assists in four-straight games and 53 assists on the season. He 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.
Fox has 12 assists in his last 16 games and six in his last seven contests. This season, he has 10 goals and 53 assists for 63 points and among NHL defensemen, Fox ranks fourth in assists and tied for fifth in points.
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 two games and eight points in his last six games.
- Vincent Trocheck is riding a five-game point streak (8A) and has points in eight of his last 11 games (2G-11A). His 38 assists this season are the second most in his career (44 - 2017-18 with FLA). He has six assists in his last four games and has multi-point games in two of his last three.
- Igor Shesterkin has 32 wins on the year, the second most in the NHL and has wins in five-straight 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 seven games, Kane has seven points (3G-4A).
- Jacob Trouba has points in seven of his last nine games (4G-6A) and back-to-back multi-point games. He ranks second in the NHL with 176 blocked shots.
- Vladimir Tarasenko has points in three of his last four games (1G-3A) and nine points in his last 10 games (3G-6A).
- 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
- The Rangers have scored a power play goal in six of their last eight games (7G), nine of their last 12 games (10G) and 11 of their last 16 contests (13G).
- New York's 23.4 power play percentage ranks ninth in the NHL.
- Since the trade deadline on March 3, the Blueshirts' 29.2 power play percentage ranks tied for seventh in the NHL.
- On the penalty kill, New York has been perfect in eight of its last nine games.
