Rangers at Maple Leafs: Pregame Notes

RANGERS RUNDOWN

The New York Rangers head to Canada for the first time this season with their first stop against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday evening (7:00 PM ET - TV: MSG Network - Radio: ESPN 880 AM).

New York ranks third in the NHL with 2.18 goals against per game played, and is tied for third in both wins (7) and points (15). The team’s 33 goals scored this season are tied for ninth in the league.

The Rangers rank second in the league with 285 hits and 174 blocked shots, and are tied for fifth with 46 takeaways.

The Blueshirts have gone 32-for-34 on the penalty kill this season, ranking second in the league with a 94.1 penalty kill percentage. They are one of two teams (TOR) this season with a perfect penalty kill on the road (100.0).

New York leads the league with seven wins this season when scoring the opening goal of a game.

The Rangers have been leading (370:45) or tied (226:03) in 596:48 of 663:26 minutes of play this season.

New York ranks second in the NHL with a plus-seven goal differential in the first period and ranks sixth with a plus-nine total goal differential.

The Blueshirts have scored five goals in four games this season, tied for the second-most games in the NHL. They are also tied for second in the league with six games in which they have scored at least four goals.

The Rangers have allowed two or fewer goals in a game eight times this season, leading the league, and are tied for second in the league with four games in which they allowed one or fewer goals.

Rangers defensemen have registered 20 assists this season, ranking fourth in the NHL, and 23 points, ranking eighth.

RANGERS AND TORONTO CONNECTIONS

Rangers players Will Cuylle, Sean Durzi, Tye Kartye, Spencer Martin and Taylor Raddysh are all natives of Ontario.

Rangers defenseman Sean Durzi was drafted by the Maple Leafs in the second round, 52nd overall, of the 2018 NHL Entry Draft.

Rangers assistant coach Joe Sacco played three seasons with the Maple Leafs from 1990–91 to 1992–93.

Rangers forward Taylor Raddysh’s older brother, Darren, is a defenseman for Toronto.

Maple Leafs forward Jack Roslovic appeared in 19 games for the Rangers during the 2023-24 season and tallied eight points (3G-5A).

Maple Leafs forward Vinni Lettieri skated in 46 games for New York across two seasons (2017-18 & 2018-19) and recorded eight points (2G-6A).

Maple Leafs forward William Nylander is the son of former Ranger Michael Nylander, who played two seasons with the Blueshirts (2005-06 and 2006-07).

TEAM NOTES

DYL-AN!

Dylan Garand has earned a point in five of his six starts this season (4-1-1) and in eight of his nine career NHL starts (6-1-2). Among all goaltenders with at least five starts this season, he ranks fourth in save percentage (.929) and ranks fifth in goals against average (1.85). His four wins this season are tied for ninth in the league.

On Oct. 13, he matched Igor Shesterkin (5-0-1) and Cam Talbot (5-0-1) for the fewest starts (6) by a goaltender to five career wins with the Rangers. On Oct. 11, he became the eighth rookie netminder in team history to record wins in each of his first two starts of the season and the third in 40 years to do so (last was Igor Shesterkin - 2GS in 2019-20).

LAFF LIGHTS UP

Alexis Lafrenière has tallied at least one point in seven of his last eight games (7G-6A). He is tied for seventh in the league with seven goals this season, and leads the Rangers in goals and points (13). From Oct. 4 through Oct. 15, he recorded a six-game point streak (7G-4A), tied for the longest such streak of his career.

He has notched four multi-point games this season, the most on the Blueshirts and tied for the 11th-most in the NHL. Since the 2023-24 season, his 43 multi-point games rank fifth among all Rangers skaters.

FANTASTIC MR. FOX

Adam Fox has notched 10 points (10A) through his first 11 games of the season. On Oct. 19, he became the fourth Rangers defenseman to reach 10 assists in fewer than 12 games multiple times (11 GP, 2021-22). Among all NHL blueliners this season, he is tied for third in assists and ranks seventh in points. He leads the Rangers in assists and ranks second in points.

Among all NHL defensemen since 2019-20, his 77 multi-assist games rank third. In that same span, his 109 multi-point games also rank third among all NHL blueliners.

Fox ranks second all-time in multi-assist games (77) among New York defensemen and ranks ninth among all Rangers skaters in franchise history. He is tied with Camille Henry and Adam Graves for the 14th-most multi-point games (109) in franchise history.

MIKA MAGIC

Mika Zibanejad has recorded nine points (2G-7A) through his first 11 games of the season. He ranks second on New York with seven assists and third in points. He currently sits two points away from tying Walt Tkaczuk for the sixth-most points among all Rangers in franchise history (678).

Among all NHL skaters to have taken at least 175 faceoffs this season, Zibanejad ranks fifth with a 55.4 faceoff win percentage. His 97 faceoff wins this season rank 10th in the NHL.

MILLER TIME

J.T. Miller has recorded at least one point in six of his last eight games (2G-5A). He is tied for fourth on the Rangers in both assists (5) and points (7).

His 102 faceoff wins this season are tied for sixth in the league. Among all NHL skaters to have taken at least 175 faceoffs this season, Miller is tied for third with a 57.3 faceoff win percentage. Since the 2024-25 season, his 59.5 faceoff win percentage ranks third among all skaters with at least 1,000 faceoffs taken.

BLUESHIRT BULLETS

Will Cuylle ranks second in the league with 49 hits and since the 2023-24 season, ranks third in the NHL with 901 hits.

Sean Durzi is tied for seventh in the NHL with seven takeaways.

Vladislav Gavrikov is tied for eighth in the league with 26 blocked shots.

Next Home Game: New York Rangers vs. Los Angeles Kings | Monday, October 26 | 7:00 PM ET