RANGERS RUNDOWN
- The New York Rangers play the fourth game of a five-game homestand when the Nashville Predators visit MSG for the only time this season (7:00 PM ET - TV: MSG Network - Radio: ESPN 98.7 FM). The Rangers finish a back-to-back set and are 6-5-2 in the second half of back to backs this season.
- New York has points in six-straight games (5-0-1) and wins in three-straight. It is their fourth separate point streak of six plus games this year, tied for the second most in a season in franchise history (1970-71 - 5, 1991-92 - 4). At home, the Blueshirts have won nine of their last 11 games and are 12-4-0 in their last 16 home games. - Against Western Conference teams, the Blueshirts are 20-6-4 and 9-4-1 against Central Division teams.
- Since December 5, New York is 29-9-5 for 61 points. In the NHL in that span, the Rangers rank third in wins, points, points percentage (.733), power play percentage (25.4), and tied for fifth in goals per game (3.53).
- The Blueshirts have scored six goals in a game 12 times this season and five or more goals in a game 20 times this season. Both rank tied for third in the NHL. When scoring four or more goals, New York is 27-0-0 and one of two teams in the NHL (VGK) to have a perfect such record.
- The Blueshirts' 19 comeback wins are tied for the fourth most in the NHL and their eight third-period comeback wins are tied for the sixth most in the NHL. Their eight third-period comeback wins are tied for the second most in franchise history (11 - 2010-11).
- Filip Chytil and Vincent Trocheck are both within one of reaching the 20-goal mark this season and joining Kreider, Zibanejad and Panarin. 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).
- Patrick Kane has played Nashville (78 GP) more than any team in his career. He has posted 25 goals and 43 assists for 68 points against the Predators.
- When scoring first this year, the Blueshirts are 27-5-4 and 21-3-3 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 165 points, tied for the fifth most in the NHL.
Pregame Notes: Rangers vs. Predators - 03.19.23
RANGERS AND PREDATORS CONNECTIONS
MIKA MARCH
Mika Zibanejad has seven points in his last three games (4G-3A), 15 points in his last 11 (6G-9A) and 26 points in his last 20 games (14G-12A).
Zibanejad has thrived in the month of March over his career, totaling 125 points (61G-64A) in 149 games played.
Zibanejad's nine multi-goal games are tied for the fifth most in the NHL.
Among NHL forwards, Zibanejad is one of three that has a plus-23 rating or better and 75-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.
KREIDING TO MAKE HISTORY
Chris Kreider has four goals in his last four goals and 31 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 seven of his last 11 games (7G-2A).
ADAM'S APPLES
Adam Fox has 52 assists on the season and 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 11 assists in his last 15 games and five in his last six contests. This season, he has 10 goals and 52 assists for 62 points and among NHL defensemen, Fox ranks fourth in assists and sixth in points.
When he records multiple points, the Rangers are 13-0-0.
PANARIN'S POINTS
Artemi Panarin has points in eight of his last 10 games (4G-8A), including three multi-point efforts.
Panarin has reached the 70-point plateau for the seventh time in his career. He is the eighth undrafted player (since 1963-64) to record seven or more 70-point seasons and the first since Martin St. Louis (8x, last: 2011-12). He joined Wayne Gretzky and Peter Stastny as the third undrafted player to debut since 1963-64 or later to record as many 70-point seasons in their first eight campaigns.
Since 2019-20, Panarin's 94 multi-point games are the fifth most in the NHL.
BLUESHIRT BULLETS
- Jaroslav Halak has points (7-2-2) in nine of his last 11 starts.
- Vincent Trocheck has points in seven of his last 10 games (2G-9A) and his 36 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 six games, Kane has seven points (3G-4A).
- Jacob Trouba has points in six of his last eight games (4G-4A) and ranks second in the NHL with 174 blocked shots.
- Vladimir Tarasenko has points in three-straight games (1G-3A) and nine points in his last nine games (3G-6A).
- Among NHL players with 15 minutes or less per game, Filip Chytil has the second most goals and points (19G-18A). With one more goal, Chytil can become the seventh Rangers player in the past 20 years to record a 20-goal season at age 23 or younger, joining 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).
- The Rangers own a 64-13-4 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 five of their last seven games (6G), eight of their last 11 games (9G) and 10 of their last 15 contests (12G).
- Since the trade deadline on March 3, the Blueshirts' 30.0 power play percentage ranks tied for fifth in the NHL.
- On the penalty kill, New York has been perfect in seven of its last eight games.
