TONIGHT'S GAME
RANGERS VS. WILD
All-Time: 16-12-0-0 (8-5-0-0 at home; 8-7-0-0 on the road)
2021-22: Jan. 28 vs. MIN, March 8 at MIN
2020-21: Did Not Play
2019-20: New York went 2-0-0 against Minnesota in 2019-20, winning the first game 3-2 at MSG and then 4-3 in the shootout in Minnesota.
INDIVIDUAL CAREER STATISTICS VS. WILD
Artemi Panarin - 15 GP, 5G-12A=17P - Panarin has tallied points (5G-9A) in seven-straight games against the Wild dating back to March 12, 2017, including a goal in four out of his last five games.
Pregame Notes: Rangers vs. Wild 01.28.22
Goalies vs. MIN
Alexandar Georgiev (1-1-0, 7 GA, .889 SV%, 3.38 GAA)
Igor Shesterkin (0 GP)
RANGERS AND WILD CONNECTIONS
NO. 30 GOES TO THE RAFTERS
Tonight, goaltender Henrik Lundqvist will become the 11th player in Rangers history to have his jersey number retired in the World's Most Famous Arena.
Lundqvist played for the Blueshirts for 15 seasons (2005-06 - 2019-20), appearing in 887 games and accumulating a 459-310-96 record, along with a 2.43 GAA, a .918 SV%, and 64 shutouts. The Åre, Sweden native left the Rangers holding over 50 team records, including wins, appearances by a goaltender, shutouts, save percentage (min. 75 appearances), playoff appearances (by either a skater or goaltender - 130), playoff wins (61), playoff shutouts (10), and playoff save percentage (min. 10 appearances - .921).
Lundqvist will join Rod Gilbert (7), Ed Giacomin (1), Mike Richter (35), Mark Messier (11), Brian Leetch (2), Adam Graves (9), Andy Bathgate (9), Harry Howell (3), Jean Ratelle (19), and Vic Hadfield (11) as the only Rangers whose jersey numbers have been retired by the organization. Gilbert was the first Ranger to have his number retired on Oct. 14, 1979, and was joined by Giacomin's No. 1 on Mar. 15, 1989, Richter's No. 35 on Feb. 4, 2004, Messier's No. 11 on Jan. 12, 2006, Leetch's No. 2 on Jan. 24, 2008, Graves' No. 9 on Feb. 3, 2009, Bathgate's No. 9 and Howell's No. 3 on Feb. 22, 2009, Ratelle's No. 19 on Feb. 25, 2018, and most recently Hadfield's No. 11 on December 2, 2018
HOME COOKING
The Rangers have won five in a row at home, their second five-plus home win streak this season (8 GP - Oct. 29-Dec. 4) and have earned a point in 15 of their 18 home games this season (13-3-2). New York has earned a point in its last six home games (5-0-1).
New York is set to play its next five games at home and six out of its next seven at home.
Since October 29, New York is 13-2-1 at home for a .844-point percentage, the league's third-best point percentage in that span.
WINNING WAYS
New York has won five of its last seven games and nine of its last 13 contests. In the NHL, the Rangers rank fifth in wins (28) and tied for fourth 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 six games and have power play goals in four straight 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 with 40-plus points and are one of five teams to have five players with 30 or more points.
OFFENSIVE DEFENSEMEN
The Rangers have 97 points (24G-73A) from defensemen this season, the 10th- most in the NHL. 18.2 percent of the Rangers' goals have come from defensemen, the sixth highest in the league.
MIKA MAGIC
Mika Zibanejad has points in nine of his last 10 games (5G-7A) and eight points in his last five games (2G-6A).
Zibanejad has points in 10 of his last 12 games (8G-7A) and in his last 16 games, he has 11 goals and 11 assists for 22 points. Since Dec. 15, Zibanejad's 22 points are tied for the third-most in the league, with Chris Kreider. His 11 goals in that span are tied for the fourth-most. Kreider leads that list with 13.
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 30 goals and became the fourth different player in franchise history to score 30 goals in 43 or fewer games in a season, joining Rod Gilbert (42 GP in 1971-72), Bill Cook (42 GP in 1930-31 &1926-27) and Don Murdoch (43 GP in 1976-77). He became the third player in Rangers history to be the NHL's first skater to reach the 30-goal mark (tied or outright), joining Lynn Patrick (1941-42) and Bill Cook (1926-27 &1930-31).
Kreider has goals in six out of his last seven games (9G) 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).
THE FANTASTIC MR. FOX
On Thursday night, Adam Fox reached the 40-assist mark while extending his point-streak to seven games (2G-9A). It is tied for the second longest point streak of his season and career:
12 GP - March 17-April 8, 2021
7 GP - Jan. 13-Present
7 GP - Nov. 21-Dec. 7, 2021
Fox is the first Rangers defenseman since Brian Leetch (2x) to post multiple point streaks of 7+ games in the same season. The Jericho, NY native has the second most assists the NHL, behind Huberdeau's 43, and leads all defensemen in assists and points (47).
PANARIN WITH THE POINTS
Artemi Panarin has extended his point streak to six games (2G-10A) with five of those six being multi-point games. He has recorded point streaks of six or more games 11 times over his career and five times since he joined New York. Panarin has points in eight of his last 10 games (3G-12A) and 25 points (6G-19A) in his last 17 games.
Since January 15, Panarin is tied for the second most points in the league with 12.
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 reached the 20-win mark with his seventh consecutive win on Monday night. He required the fewest games by a Rangers goaltender to reach the 20-win mark in a season, besting the previous mark set by Gilles Villemure (28 GP in 1971-72). In his last 14 starts, Shesterkin 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 % (.937) - 1st
GAA (2.07) - 2nd
Shutouts (3) - T-4th
Wins (20) - T-6th
THREE RANGERS SELECTED TO ASG
Forwards Chris Kreider, Mika Zibanejad and defenseman Adam Fox were selected to the 2022 NHL All-Star Game in Vegas. Zibanejad was selected as the "Last Man In" fan vote but will not be attending the game. It is the 34th time in franchise history that the Rangers have had three or more players selected to the same All-Star Game.
POWER PLAY
PENALTY KILL
- New York is 107-for-128 (83.6%) on the penalty kill this season, fifth-best in the NHL.
- The Rangers are 22-3-2 in games this season where they have not allowed a power play goal.
