Pregame Notes: Rangers vs. Predators 10.4.18

NEW YORK RANGERS vs. NASHVILLE PREDATORS
Thursday, Oct. 4, 2018, 7:30 p.m. ET
Madison Square Garden - New York, NY
TV: MSG Network, Radio: ESPN 98.7 FM
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RANGERS OPENING NIGHT presented by CHASE
Rangers hockey is back! Welcome to Rangers Opening Night presented by Chase. All fans in attendance tonight will receive a Together We Are RangersTown tee shirt presented by Chase. The Rangers are opening their regular season schedule at home for the third consecutive season and for the 27th time in franchise history. The last time the Rangers began three or more consecutive seasons with a home game was a seven-season stretch from 1981-82 - 1987-88. Starting with tomorrow's game, New York will play six of its first nine games in 2018-19 at MSG.

RANGERS VS. PREDATORS
RANGERS-PREDATORS CONNECTIONS
INDIVIDUAL CAREER STATISTICS VS. PREDATORS
CONNECTING THE DOTS
Several Rangers players have connections with fellow members of the Blueshirts and/or members of the team's coaching staff in addition to being teammates with the Rangers:
START ME UP
The Rangers have posted a 38-37-14-2 record in their 91 home openers in franchise history, including an 11-10-5-0 record in home openers which were also their regular season opener. The Rangers have posted a 38-39-13-1 all-time record in regular season openers. New York has won three of its last four regular season openers (3-1-0 record) and has posted an 8-4-1 record in 13 season-opening games since 2005-06.
YOUTH SERVED
The Blueshirts enter the season with four rookies on their active 23-man roster (Chytil, Georgiev, Howden, and Lettieri). Prior to 2018-19, the last time the Rangers had three rookie forwardsplay in the first game of the regular season was in 1989-90 (Mark Janssens, Troy Mallette, and Darren Turcotte). The Rangers also have two players who are 20 years old or younger on their active roster (Chytil and Howden). Prior to 2018-19, the last time the Rangers had two players 20 years old or younger in an opening night lineup was in 2010-11 (Michael Del Zotto and Derek Stepan), and the last time the Blueshirts had two forwards 20 years old or younger in an opening night lineup was in 1990-91 (Steven Rice and Troy Mallette). Seven players on the Rangers' 23-man active roster are 23 years old or younger (Buchnevich, Chytil, DeAngelo, Georgiev, Howden, Lettieri, and Pionk).
The Rangers have 10 forwards on their roster who are 26 years old or younger. Should all 10 forwards who are 26 years old or younger play in tomorrow's game,it would be the first time that the Blueshirts had 10 forwards who were 26 years old or younger play in a season-opening game since 1956-57 (Oct. 12, 1956 at Chicago - Andy Bathgate, Dave Creighton, Gerry Foley, Jean-Guy Gendron, Camille Henry, Bronco Horvath, Danny Lewicki, Larry Popein, Dean Prentice, and Red Sullivan).
HOW THE RANGERS WERE BUILT
\Although they were not drafted by the Rangers, Georgiev, Hayes, Howden, Lettieri, Pionk, Vesey, and Zuccarello have not played in the NHL with a team other than the Rangers
Note: only players on the active roster are included
Of the 23 players on the Rangers' active roster, 11 were selected by an NHL team in the first round of the NHL Entry Draft (Chytil, DeAngelo, Hayes, Howden, Kreider, Namestnikov, Shattenkirk, Skjei, Smith, Staal, and Zibanejad).
LEADING THE WAY
The Rangers will have five alternate captains for the 2018-19 season - Jesper Fast, Chris Kreider, Marc Staal, Mika Zibanejad, and Mats Zuccarello. Staal is entering his ninth season as an alternate captain with the Rangers, as he was first named an alternate captain at the start of the 2010-11 season. Among players on the current roster, Staal is the longest-tenured member of the team's leadership group. Zuccarello is entering his second season as an alternate captain with the Rangers after first being named an alternate captain on Oct. 4, 2017, while Fast, Kreider, and Zibanejad all wore an 'A' during the second half of the 2017-18 season.
SHUTTING THE DOOR
Since Henrik Lundqvist joined the Rangers prior to the start of the 2005-06 season, the Rangers lead the NHL in goals against per game (2.51).
The Blueshirts have ranked fifth or better in the NHL in goals against per game in seven of the last 13 seasons (since 2005-06), including five of the last eight seasons (since 2010-11).
HOME COOKING
The Rangers earned at least one point in 25 of 41 home games in 2017-18 (21-16-4 record at MSG). The Blueshirts have earned 20 or more home wins in a season in each of the last five seasons (dating back to 2013-14) and in each of the last seven seasons which were 82 games in length (dating back to 2010-11). The Rangers have registered at least 20 home wins in a season in 11 of 13 seasons since 2005-06 (and in 11 of 12 seasons which were 82 games in length over the span).
QUINN-ING
David Quinn will coach his first regular season game as the Rangers' Head Coach tomorrow, and he will also coach his first game as a head coach in the NHL tomorrow. Quinn was named the Rangers' Head Coach on May 23, 2018, becoming the 35th Head Coach in franchise history. Quinn is the second Head Coach in Blueshirts history who has previously coached in the NCAA (along with Herb Brooks), and he is the first Head Coach in Rangers history who has joined the team directly from the NCAA. Quinn begins his first season with the Rangers after serving as Head Coach at Boston University for the previous five seasons (2013-14 - 2017-18). During Quinn's tenure at Boston University, the school won two Hockey East Tournament Championships (2014-15 and 2017-18), two Hockey East Regular Season Championships (2014-15 and 2016-17), and The Beanpot in 2014-15, while also making four consecutive NCAA Tournament Appearances (2014-15 - 2017-18).
Quinn has served as either a Head Coach, Associate Head Coach, or Assistant Coach at the collegiate level for 18 seasons in his coaching career. Entering the 2018-19 season, the Rangers have several players on their active roster who played collegiate hockey in the NCAA before beginning their professional career, including:
KING HENRIK
Henrik Lundqvist is entering his 14th season with the Rangers in 2018-19 and is expected to make his 13th consecutive start in a season-opening game with the Rangers (franchise record for goaltenders - dating back to 2006-07). By making his first appearance of the 2018-19 season, Lundqvist will tie Mike Richter for the most regular seasons with at least one appearance by a Rangers goaltender in franchise history (Note: Richter appeared in at least one game (regular season or playoffs) in 15 different seasons with the Blueshirts, as he made his NHL debut during the 1989 Stanley Cup Playoffs). Lundqvist will also become the ninth player (skater or goaltender) to appear in at least one regular season game in 14 different seasons with the Rangers in franchise history, along with Rod Gilbert (18), Brian Leetch (17), Harry Howell (17), Ron Greschner (16), Jean Ratelle (16), Ott Heller (15), Walt Tkaczuk (14), and Richter (14).
Lundqvist will also become the ninth player (skater or goaltender) to appear in at least one regular season game in 14 different seasons with the Rangers in franchise history, along with Rod Gilbert (18), Brian Leetch (17), Harry Howell (17), Ron Greschner (16), Jean Ratelle (16), Ott Heller (15), Walt Tkaczuk (14), and Richter (14).
Entering the 2018-19 season, Lundqvist is approaching several career milestones:
STAALWART RANGER
When he makes his season debut in 2018-19, Marc Staal will become the seventh defenseman in Rangers history to play at least one regular season game with the team in at least 12 different seasons. In addition, Staal's 12 seasons with the Rangers would move him into a tie for the fifth-most seasons a defenseman has played with the Blueshirts in franchise history. Prior to the start of 2018-19, the only defensemen who have played at least one regular season game in 12 or more seasons with the Rangers are Harry Howell (17), Brian Leetch (17), Ron Greschner (16), Ott Heller (15), Jim Neilson (12), and Rod Seiling (12).
HOW DO YOU DO
Brett Howden is expected to make his NHL/Rangers debut in tomorrow's contest. The Rangers acquired Howden as part of a trade with the Tampa Bay Lightning on Feb. 26, 2018. Howden, who was selected by Tampa Bay in the first round (27th overall) of the 2016 NHL Entry Draft, skated in 248 career Western Hockey League (WHL) games during his junior career over parts of five seasons (2013-14 - 2017-18), all with the Moose Jaw Warriors, registering 109 goals and 158 assists for 267 points. The 20-year-old established WHL career-highs in assists (51), points per game (1.53), plus/minus rating (plus-28), and game-winning goals (five) last season, and he ranked 12th in the WHL in points per game. He also served as Moose Jaw's captain for the second straight season in 2017-18. Howden helped Canada win a gold medal at the 2018 IIHF World Junior Championship, and he ranked fourth among all skaters in the tournament - and led all forwards - in plus/minus rating (plus-nine).
CHYTIL-MANIA
Filip Chytil made his NHL debut with the Rangers during the 2017-18 season. He accomplished several feats with the Blueshirts last season:
Chytil registered 31 points (11 goals, 20 assists) in 46 AHL games with the Hartford Wolf Pack last season. Chytil's 31 points were tied for the 12th-most a player younger than 19 years old tallied in one season in AHL history. Last season, he led all AHL players younger than 20 years old in goals and points per game (0.69), and ranked second among all AHL players younger than 20 years old in assists and points at the time he was recalled by the Rangers on Mar. 25. Chytil was also the youngest player to appear in an AHL game since Mario Tremblay in 1974. He also represented the Czech Republic at both the 2018 IIHF World Junior Championship and the 2018 IIHF World Championship last season and became the youngest player to score a goal for the Czech Republic in an IIHF World Championship game.
WELCOME MATS
Mats Zuccarello led the Rangers in several categories last season, including assists (37), points (53), primary assists (23), power play assists (16), takeaways (69), and shootout goals (four). He led the Rangers in points for the third consecutive season (2015-16 - 2017-18) and for the fourth time in his career. Zuccarello became the eighth player in franchise history to lead the Rangers in points in at least four different seasons (along with Mark Messier, Phil Esposito, Jean Ratelle, Andy Bathgate, Bryan Hextall Sr., Frank Boucher, and Bill Cook). In addition, Zuccarello became the ninth player in franchise history to lead the Rangers in points in at least three consecutive seasons (along with Jaromir Jagr, Wayne Gretzky, Phil Esposito, Andy Bathgate, Bryan Hextall Sr., Cecil Dillon, Bill Cook, and Frank Boucher). Zuccarello is one of six NHL players who have either led their team or tied for the team lead in points in each of the last three seasons, and he is one of five players who have led or tied for the team lead in points on the same team* in each of the last three seasons. The other five players are Johnny Gaudreau (Calgary), Patrick Kane (Chicago), Taylor Hall (Edmonton/New Jersey), Erik Karlsson (Ottawa), and Nikita Kucherov (Tampa Bay).
BUCH BOOST
Pavel Buchnevich established career-highs in several categories during his second season in the NHL in 2017-18, including games played (74), goals (14), assists (29), points (43), power play goals (five), power play assists (12), power play points (17), and game-winning goals (four). He tied for the team lead in game-winning goals (four), ranked second in assists, primary assists (18), and power play assists, tied for second in power play points, ranked fourth in points, tied for fourth in even strength assists (17), and ranked fifth in power play goals last season. In 2017-18, Buchnevich became the sixth player of Russian nationality to register at least 40 points in a season with the Rangers in franchise history. The only other players of Russian nationality who have tallied 40 or more points in a season with the Blueshirts are Alexei Kovalev (four different seasons), Sergei Nemchinov (three different seasons), Sergei Zubov, Nikolai Zherdev, and Artem Anisimov.
MIKA MAGIC
Mika Zibanejad established career-highs in several categories last season, including goals (27), power play goals (14), power play points (21), shots on goal (212), and average ice time (17:58). Zibanejad led the Rangers in goals, power play goals, power play points, faceoff wins (654), and faceoffs taken (1,287) in 2017-18. He tied for sixth in the NHL in power play goals last season, and he became the first Ranger to tally 14 power play goals in a season since Marian Gaborik in 2009-10.
SPECIAL TEAMS
The Rangers were one of eight NHL teams - and one of four Eastern Conference teams (along with Boston, New Jersey, and Toronto) - that scored a goal on 21.0% or more of their power play opportunities and killed off at least 81.0% of their opponents' power play opportunities in 2017-18.
Power Play:
Penalty Kill:
UPCOMING MILESTONES
INJURIES
RECENT TRANSACTIONS
THIS DAY IN RANGERS HISTORY
REMEMBERING 1993-94
The Rangers opened the 1993-94 season on October 5, 1993 against Boston at MSG. Twelve Rangers who were in the team's lineup for the regular season opener were also in the team's lineup for Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals against Vancouver on June 14, 1994 (Greg Gilbert, Adam Graves, Alexei Kovalev, Brian Leetch, Doug Lidster, Kevin Lowe, Mark Messier, Sergei Nemchinov, Mike Richter, Esa Tikkanen, Jay Wells, and Glenn Healy). Note: Healy dressed but did not play in both the regular season opener and Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals
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