Pregame Notes: Rangers vs. Kings

RANGERS RUNDOWN

• The New York Rangers close out a back-to-back with a home contest against the Los Angeles Kings at Madison Square Garden (7:00 PM ET - TV: MSG Network - Radio: ESPN 98.7 FM). The Blueshirts are 2-0 in the second half of back-to-back games this season.
• Tonight, the Rangers will wear their third jersey’s for the first of 10 times this season.
• The Blueshirts’ 18 wins are tied for the most in the NHL and their 37 points/.740 points percentage ranks third in the league. New York’s 18 wins are their most through 25 games in franchise history.
• Following a loss, the Rangers are 5-1-0 and have outscored opponents 15-8 in those five games.
• New York has wins in three of his last five games, in 10 of its last 14 games and points in 17 of its last 21 games (16-4-1).
• On home ice, the Blueshirts are 8-2-0, ranking second in the league in home points percentage (.800).
• Against the Kings, the Blueshirts have won three in a row and four of five. This season, against Western Conference opponents, New York is 9-2-1 and 5-0-0 against Pacific Division teams.
• Seven different Rangers (Fox, Gustafsson, Kreider, Lafrenière, Panarin, Trocheck, Zibanejad) have 15-plus points this season, tied for the third largest amount in the NHL.
• The Rangers have the best faceoff percentage in the NHL with a 55.4 percent mark and have been over 50 percent in the faceoff circle in 20 of 25 games. Since 1997-98 when the league started tracking FOW%, the team hasn’t finished a season over 53.3 percent.
• Former Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick is 7-0-1 as a Ranger, the first goaltender to record a point in eight consecutive starts to begin his tenure with the team. Among NHL goaltenders with eight starts, Quick ranks seventh in save percentage (.918) and fourth in GAA (2.34).
• In the past five games, Artemi Panarin and Vincent Trocheck have combined for 14 points (6G-8A).
• The Rangers have the NHL’s third best power play percentage (29.3) and have scored power play goals in 18 of their first 25 games. The team’s 22 power play goals this year are tied for the sixth most in the NHL.
• The Rangers’ defensemen have accounted for 66 points, the fifth most in the NHL.
• New York has a league-high (tied) nine comeback wins, and five after trailing in the third period - the third most in the NHL.
• The Blueshirts are 13-2-1 when scoring the first goal of the game, tied for the most such wins in the league. New York is 9-1-1 when leading after two periods and 7-0-0 when tied after two frames.
• The Rangers are 9-0-1 in one-goal games, the most such wins in the NHL.
• When outshooting their opponents, the Blueshirts are 12-2-0, the second most wins in the league.

RANGERS AND KINGS CONNECTIONS

• Rangers goaltender Jonathan Quick played parts of 16 seasons for the Kings, compiling a 370-275-82 record in 731 starts with a .911 save percentage and 2.46 GAA. In addition to winning two Stanley Cup championships with LA, he was a Vezina Trophy finalist twice (2011-12, 2015-16) and part of a William M. Jennings Trophy (award given to goalies on the team that had the fewest goals against) winning duo on two occasions, in 2013-14 and 2017-18.
• Rangers forward Jonny Brodzinski was drafted by the Kings in 2013 (5th Round) and across three seasons (2016-17 – 2018-19), skated in 54 games recording 11 points (6G-5A).
• Kings goaltender Cam Talbot played his first two seasons (2013-14 – 2014-15) with the Rangers, making 53 starts with the team.
• Kings President Luc Robitaille played two seasons with the Rangers (1995-96 and 1996-97).

KREIDING TO MAKE HISTORY

Chris Kreider is one point from 500 in his career, one goal from matching Adam Graves for the third most in team history (280), and one power play goal from becoming the fifth player in franchise history to reach 100 PPGs.

With his point, Kreider would become the 12th player to record 500 points with the franchise and the eighth skater from the 2009 NHL Entry Draft class to reach it.

Kreider has 14 goals on the season, ranking tied for the 10th most in the league and has 16 points in his last 18 games (9G- 7A).

Only 14 active players have 100 or more career power play goals.

His nine shorthanded goals since 2021-22 are the most in the NHL while his 41 power play goals in that span are the second most. In addition, his nine career SHGs rank tied for ninth with Mika Zibanejad for the most in team history.

At MSG in the regular season and playoffs combined, Kreider has scored 162 goals, the second most in history behind Rod Gilbert’s 165.

PANARIN ON A PATH

Artemi Panarin has 37 points (16G-21A) on the season and has notched a point in 20 of his 25 games this year. Panarin ranks third in the NHL in points, tied for fourth in goals, tied for 12th in assists, and tied for fourth in power play points (15).

Panarin is the third player in franchise history with a season-opening home point streak of 10-plus games, joining Mike Rogers (15 GP in 1983-84) and Wayne Gretzky (10 GP in 1996-97).

Panarin leads the league with 13 multi-point games and since 2015-16, his 194 multi-point games rank sixth in the league.

Ahead of his 616th NHL game, Panarin sits two points away from 700 in his career. In NHL history, 37 players have reached the 700 point milestone in fewer than 616 games.

Panarin is also the first Ranger with 15+ goals and 20+ assists within the team’s first 25 games of a season since all three members of the ‘G-A-G Line’ (Hadfield, Ratelle, Gilbert) in 1971-72.

BACK IN THE FOX HOLE

Adam Fox played in his 300th career NHL game and became the 13th defenseman in NHL history with at least 250 points through their 300th career game. His 212 assists are the sixth most through the first 300 games of a NHL defensemen’s career.

In his five games since returning from injury, Adam Fox has tallied five assists, giving him points in 11 of his 15 contests this season (3G-13A).

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

SLAP SHOTS

• Jacob Trouba’s 82 blocked shots are the second most in the NHL. He has points in four of his last seven games (1G-4A) and is one point away from 300 in his career. He would be the third defenseman from the 2012 NHL Draft to notch the feat.
• Vincent Trocheck has points in 10 of his past 15 games (5G-14A). Trocheck’s 22 points on the year (6G-16A) are tied for the second most on the Blueshirts. Among NHL skaters with 300 or more faceoffs, Trocheck ranks first in faceoff percentage (63.0).
• Alexis Lafreniere has four assists in his last five games. Last week, he recorded his 50th career assist. Among players to debut with the Rangers in the past 20 years, he became the sixth to hit the milestone at age 22 or younger. He joined Kaapo Kakko (Feb. 17, 2023), Filip Chytil (April 13, 2022), Derek Stepan (Feb. 11, 2012), Michael Del Zotto (Dec. 17, 2011) and Brandon Dubinsky (March 5, 2009).
• K’Andre Miller has four goals in his last seven games and five total points in that span (4G-1A). His four goals since Nov. 25 are the most among NHL defensemen over the span.
• Erik Gustafsson has 11 points (1G-10A) in last 14 games. His 15 points (3G-12A) this season rank second among Rangers defensemen.
• Nick Bonino ranks first among forwards with 53 blocked shots and since 2021-22, Bonino leads all forwards in blocked shots with 234.
• Will Cuylle ranks first among rookies in hits with 65.
• The Rangers have a regular season record of 40-11-6 when Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad score a goal in the same game.