TODAY'S GAME
RANGERS VS. KRAKEN
All-Time: 1-0-0 (0-0-0 at home; 1-0-0 on the road)
- In their first ever matchup with Seattle, the Rangers won 3-1 after notching one goal in the first and two in the third to outlast the Kraken on Halloween. The Rangers improved to 27-8-1 (55 points) in their first-ever regular season game against an NHL franchise (active and defunct), including wins in each of the last seven such contests. New York's .750 win percentage and .764 points percentage in games which fall under that criteria are the highest in NHL history.
- Point getters for New York that night at Climate Pledge Arena were Barclay Goodrow (1G-1A), Chris Kreider (1G), Adam Fox (1G), Mika Zibanejad (1A), Artemi Panarin (1A).
- Igor Shesterkin stopped 31 of 32 shots in the win in Seattle.
Pregame Notes: Rangers vs. Kraken 01.30.22
RANGERS AND KRAKEN CONNECTIONS
FIRST TIME?
The Rangers will host the Kraken for the first time ever at Madison Square Garden. Seattle will become the 31st different franchise to play against the Rangers at the World's Most Famous Arena. New York is 4-0-1-0 in its first home game against the last five expansion teams before Seattle:
Vegas: Oct. 31, 2017 (W, 6-4)
Columbus: Jan. 14, 2002 (T, 2-2)
Minnesota: Jan. 14, 2001 (W, 4-2)
Atlanta: Oct. 17, 1999 (W, 4-1)
Nashville: Nov. 29, 1998 (W, 5-1)
HOME COOKING
The Rangers have won five out of six games at home and have earned a point in 15 of their 19 home games this season (13-4-2). New York has earned a point in its six of its last seven home games (5-1-1).
New York is set to play its next four games at home and five out of its next six at home.
Heading into their 20th home game of the season, the Rangers have the eighth-best home points percentage (.737) in the league.
WINNING WAYS
New York has won five of its last eight games and nine of its last 14 contests. In the NHL, the Rangers rank fifth in wins (28) and tied for fifth in points (60).
The Rangers hit the 60-point mark in 43 games, it marked the fourth-fewest contests needed in franchise history to hit the 60-point mark (39 GP in 1971- 72, 40 GP in 1970-71 &42 GP in 2011-12).
ALL THAT POWER
The Rangers have tallied seven power play goals in its last seven games and have power play goals in four out of five games. New York's 32 power play goals are tied for the fifth most in the NHL this season. The Rangers are 18-4-3 in games which they have scored a power play goal.
SPREADING THE WEALTH
The Rangers and Avalanche are the only two teams in the NHL with four players (Panarin, Fox, Kreider, Zibanejad) with 40-plus points and are one of five teams to have five players (Panarin, Fox, Kreider, Zibanejad, Strome) with 30 or more points.
THE GOOD(ROW) PLACE
Barclay Goodrow is currently riding a career-long three-game goal streak, the second longest on the season for a Ranger behind Chris Kreider's six. Goodrow hit the double-digit goal mark for the first time in his career with his 10th tally of the season on Friday. With 20 points (10G-10A) on the year, Goodrow has tied his second most single-season point output of his career:
2019-20 (SJS/TBL) - 8G-18A - 26 PTS
2021-22 (NYR) - 10G-10A - 20 PTS
2020-21 (TBL) - 6G-14A - 20 PTS
TROUB TO HIS WORD
Jacob Trouba leads New York defensemen with eight goals, tied for the seventh most among NHL defensemen. His goals are tied for the second most of his career with 10 in 2013-14 leading the way. Trouba has seven points in his last six games (2G-5A) and a multi-point game in three of those six. Trouba leads New York with 104 blocked shots, the fourth most in the NHL. He also has 127 hits, making him the only player in the league with 100+ blocked shots and hits.
MIKA MAGIC
Mika Zibanejad has points in 10 of his last 11 games (5G-8A) and nine points in his last six games (2G-7A). Zibanejad has points in 11 of his last 13 games (8G-8A) and in his last 17 games, he has 11 goals and 12 assists for 23 points. Since Dec. 15, Zibanejad's 23 points are tied for the third-most in the league, with Chris Kreider. Zibanejad has nine power play goals on the year, tied for the fourth-most in the league.
KREIDING HIGH
Chris Kreider leads the NHL with a career-high 31 goals and has goals in seven out of his last eight games (10G) since January 13. Kreider has a league-leading 15 goals on the power play and his latest was the 73rd of his career, passing Mark Messier for sole possession of eighth place on the Rangers' all-time power-play goal list. He became the first Rangers player with 15-plus power-play goals through his first 30 tallies of a season since Petr Prucha in 2005-06 (16).
PANARIN WITH THE POINTS
Artemi Panarin has points in six out of his last seven games (2G-10A) with five of those six being multi-point games. Panarin has points in eight of his last 11 games (3G-12A) and 25 points (6G-19A) in his last 18 games.
Panarin has 15 multi-point games this season, tied for the fifth most in the league and 62 since 2019-20, the third most in the NHL:
Connor McDavid - 79
Leon Draisaitl - 74
Artemi Panarin - 62
Nathan MacKinnon - 60
SHESTERKIN BY THE NUMBERS
Igor Shesterkin has won seven out of his last eight starts and in his last 15 starts, has allowed two or fewer goals in 10 of them.
Among NHL goaltenders with a minimum of 20 starts, Shesterkin ranks among the best in several categories:
Save % (.936) - 1st
GAA (2.10) - 2nd
Shutouts (3) - T-4th
Wins (20) - T-6th
HITS AND BLOCKED SHOTS
The Rangers have the second most hits in the league (1,182) and the third most blocked shots in the league (695). They are the only team to be in the top three of both categories.
HERE'S THE SITUATION
Situationally, this season the Rangers are:
UPCOMING MILESTONES
Mika Zibanejad
Gerard Gallant
Alexis Lafreniere
POWER PLAY
PP Leaders:
Goals: Kreider (15)
Points: Kreider (21), Fox (21)
PP TOI: Kreider (145:33)
PP Shots: Zibanejad (46)
PENALTY KILL
PK Leaders:
SH Goals: Kreider (2)
SH Points: Zibanejad (3)
SH TOI: Goodrow (105:02)
SH Shots: Goodrow (7)
