Pregame Notes: Rangers vs. Panthers 02.01.22

TONIGHT'S GAME
RANGERS VS. PANTHERS
All-Time: 56-32-6-8 (29-15-4-3 at home; 27-17-2-5 on the road)
- New York has earned at least one point in six out of its last eight matchups and 11 of its last 14 games with Florida. Since March 21, 2016, the Rangers are 7-3-4 for 18 points against the Panthers while averaging 3.86 goals per game. - The Blueshirts have earned at least one point in four-straight home games against Florida (3-0-1) and 13 of their last 15 games at home against the Panthers (10-2-3). - Nine of the last 11 meetings between the Rangers and Panthers have been decided by one goal. In addition, seven of the last 16 meetings between the two teams have been decided in either overtime or a shootout.

INDIVIDUAL CAREER STATISTICS VS. PANTHERS
Chris Kreider - 25 GP, 9G-12A-21P - Kreider has points (6G-7A) in seven of his last nine games and is a plus-8 against the Panthers dating back to November 28, 2017. Kreider has two three-point games and three multi-point games in his career against Florida. With 21 points, Kreider has the fifth most points all-time for a Ranger against the Panthers.
Mika Zibanejad - 22 GP, 8G-9A-17P - Zibanejad has points in six-straight games (5G-6A) and nine of his past 11 games against Florida. Zibanejad has multi-point efforts in both games against the Panthers this season, posting two assists in the first meeting and one goal and one assist in the second.
Artemi Panarin - 13 GP, 3G-14A-17P - Panarin is currently riding a nine-game point streak (3G-13A) against the Panthers, including a four-point (1G- 3A) output on Oct. 11, 2018 while with Columbus. Panarin had two assists in the first matchup between the teams and a goal and an assist in the most recent meeting in Sunrise on Dec. 29.
Goalies vs. FLA
Igor Shesterkin (1-1-0, 7 GA, .909 SV%, 3.57 GAA)
Alexandar Georgiev (1-0-0, 2 GA, .947 SV%, 2.00 GAA)
RANGERS AND PANTHERS CONNECTIONS
BLACK HISTORY NIGHT
To kick off Black History Month, the Rangers, along with presenting partner Chase, will highlight the trailblazers who broke barriers and continue to lead the global fight for racial equality with Black History Night.
Throughout Black History Month, the Rangers will amplify their commitment to diversity and inclusion in the game by developing original content to recognize current and former Black NHL players and those who blazed the trail for a better game.
GALLANT GOING FOR 300 WINS
Rangers head coach Gerard Gallant is one win away from becoming the 51st head coach in NHL history to win 300 games and the 11th active (Trotz, Ruff, Laviolette, Sutter, Tippett, Boudreau, McLellan, DeBoer, Cooper, Sullivan).
With a win tonight, in his 588th game coached, he would tie Peter Laviolette for the 22nd fewest games required to reach the milestone in league history.
CBJ - 56 wins
FLA - 96 wins
VGK - 118 wins
NYR - 29 wins
GARDEN PARTY
The Rangers have won six out of their last seven games at home and have earned a point in 16 of their 20 home games this season (14-4-2). New York has earned a point in seven of its last eight home games (6-1-1). The Rangers have the sixth best (tied) home points percentage (.750) in the league.
New York is set to play its next three games at home and four out of its next five at home.
WE WERE ON A BREAK!
Tonight is the Rangers' final game before the All-Star break and their next game comes on February 15 against the Boston Bruins at MSG. If the Rangers win tonight, they would have 30 wins before the All-Star break for the first time since 2016-17 and eighth time in history. This excludes Olympic years, shortened seasons.
ALL THAT POWER
The Rangers have tallied eight power play goals in its last eight games and have power play goals in five out of six games. New York's 33 power play goals are the fifth most in the NHL this season. The Rangers are 19-4-3 in games which they have scored a power play goal.
Chris Kreider leads the NHL with 15 power play goals while Mika Zibanejad's 10 power play tallies are tied for third in the league. Per NHL Stats and Info, it is the sixth time in franchise history the club has had multiple players with 10+ power-play goals through the team's first 46 games of a season.
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 eight teams to have five players (Panarin, Fox, Kreider, Zibanejad, Strome) with 30 or more points.
MIKA MAGIC
Mika Zibanejad has points in three-straight games (2G-3A), 11 of his last 12 games (6G-10A) and 12 points in his last seven games (3G-9A).
Zibanejad has points in 12 of his last 14 games (9G-10A) and in his last 18 games, he has 12 goals and 14 assists for 25 points. Since Dec. 15, Zibanejad's 26 points are the third-most in the league:
Jonathan Huberdeau - 31
Joe Pavelski - 27
Mika Zibanejad - 26
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 eight points in his last seven games (2G-6A) and a multi-point game in three of those seven.
KREIDING HIGH
Chris Kreider shares the NHL-lead with a career-high 31 goals and has goals in seven out of his last nine games (10G) since January 13.
This month, Kreider will be the Rangers' lone representative at the 2022 NHL All-Star Game in Las Vegas.
PANARIN WITH THE POINTS
Artemi Panarin has points in seven out of his last eight games (2G-11A) with five of those six being multi-point games. Panarin has points in nine of his last 12 games (3G-13A) and 26 points (6G-20A) in his last 19 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.
SHESTERKIN BY THE NUMBERS
Igor Shesterkin has won eight out of his last nine starts and in his last 16 starts, has allowed two or fewer goals in 11 of them.
Shesterkin concluded January with a 7-1-0 record in eight appearances (1.86 GAA, .947 SV%, 2 SO) - the only other New York goaltenders who appeared in as many games as Shesterkin and recorded a save percentage of .947 or higher in a single calendar month are Henrik Lundqvist in February 2012 and Gump Worsley in November 1955 (since 1955-56 when shots on goal were officially tracked).
Among NHL goaltenders with a minimum of 20 starts, Shesterkin ranks among the best in several categories:
Save % (.937) - 1st
GAA (2.10) - 2nd
Shutouts (3) - T-4th
Wins (21) - T-6th