Rangers vs. Islanders 10.13.16: Postgame Notes

Team Notes

• HIGH FIVE -Pavel Buchnevich, Michael Grabner, Nick Holden, Brandon Pirri, and Mika Zibanejad all tallied their first point as a Ranger while making their Rangers debuts in tonight's contest. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the last Rangers game where at least five players who were making their debut with the team recorded at least one point was on Oct. 5, 2005 at Philadelphia (Martin Straka, Jason Strudwick, Ryan Hollweg, Marcel Hossa, Michael Nylander, and Steve Rucchin).
• TEAM EFFORT -Five different Rangers tallied a goal and 11 different Rangers recorded a point in tonight's contest.
• YOUTH SERVED -Eleven of the 12 forwards who skated in tonight's game for the Rangers were younger than 30 years old. Prior to tonight's contest, the last time the Rangers had 11 or more forwards younger than 30 years old in the same lineup in one game was on Mar. 1, 2014 at Philadelphia.
• HOME COOKING -The Blueshirts have earned at least one point in 62 of their last 81 home games, dating back to Oct. 16, 2014 (53-19-9 record at MSG over the span).
• FIRST IN SCORE -The Rangers tallied the first goal in tonight's game and have posted a 75-11-8 record in games which they have scored the first goal of the game since the start of the 2014-15 season.
• NEW YORK, NEW YORK -The Rangers have earned at least one point in 14 of their last 21 home games against the Islanders, dating back to Dec. 29, 2008 (12-7-2).
• SHOOTING GALLERY -New York recorded 39 shots on goal in tonight's game, as 15 different skaters registered at least one shot on goal.
• FINISHING THE JOB -The Rangers have posted a 179-3-11 record in their last 193 regular season games when leading entering the third period, dating back to Feb. 6, 2010 vs. New Jersey. New York has also posted an 84-2-5 record in its last 91 regular season games when leading entering the third period, dating back to Nov. 30, 2013 vs. Vancouver. The Blueshirts have posted a 65-2-3 record in 70 regular season contests in which they have held a lead entering the third period since the start of the 2014-15 season.
• SPECIAL TEAMS -Since the start of the 2014-15 season, the Rangers have posted a 33-2-3 record in games which they have outscored their opponent on special teams.

Three Stars on Broadway

• Chris Kreidertallied two points (one goal, one assist) and tied a single-game career-high with seven shots on goal in tonight's contest. He has registered 12 points (four goals, eight assists) in 16 career games against the Islanders. Dating back to last season, Kreider has tallied 11 points (six goals, five assists) in his last nine regular season games.
• Brandon Pirritallied two points (one goal, one assist), including his first goal/assist/point as a Ranger and recorded the game-winning goal while making his Rangers debut in tonight's game. Entering this season, Pirri ranked 12th in the NHL (min. 100 games played) in goals per 60 minutes of ice time since the start of the 2013-14 season (1.31).
• Mika Zibanejadnotched two assists, including his first assist/point as a Ranger, led all skaters with 15 faceoff wins (15-for-25; 60.0%), and tied for the game-high with two takeaways while making his Rangers debut. Zibanejad has tallied a point in six of his last seven contests against the Islanders, recording seven points (one goal, six assists) over the span.

Blueshirt Breakdown

• Henrik Lundqvistmade 25 saves and earned a win in tonight's contest. Lundqvist made his 11th consecutive start in a Rangers' season-opening game in tonight's contest (dating back to 2006-07), becoming the second goaltender in franchise history to start in at least 11 season-opening games, as well as 11 consecutive season-opening games (Ed Giacomin - 11 from 1965-66 - 1975-76). He also became the second goaltender in franchise history to appear in a regular season game in at least 12 different seasons (Mike Richter - 14 from 1989-90 - 2002-03). Lundqvist earned his 375th career NHL win in tonight's game, passing John Vanbiesbrouck for sole possession of 14th place on the NHL's all-time wins list.
• Michael Grabnerregistered his first goal/point as a Ranger and was credited with two hits while making his Rangers debut in tonight's contest.
• Mats Zuccarellorecorded a goal and registered two shots on goal. In 2015-16, Zuccarello registered all of his 26 goals and 54 of his 61 points in games situations when the Rangers either led by one goal, trailed by one goal, or were tied. Zuccarello registered his goal in tonight's game when the Blueshirts held a one-goal lead.
• J.T. Millertallied an empty-net goal, registered four shots on goal, and posted a plus-one rating in tonight's game.
• Pavel Buchnevichtallied his first career NHL assist/point and recorded three shots on goal while making his NHL debut.
• Brady Skjeiregistered his first career NHL regular season assist/point and posted a plus-one rating.
• Nick Holdenrecorded his first assist/point as a Ranger, tied for the team-high with four hits, and posted a plus-one rating in 21:59 of ice time while making his Rangers debut in tonight's contest.
• Jesper Fastrecorded an assist and posted a plus-two rating. He has tallied each of his last 38 points at even strength, dating back to Jan. 31, 2015. In addition, 44 of Fast's 45 career NHL points have been recorded at even strength.
• Kevin Hayesrecorded an assist and posted a plus-two rating in the contest. Thus far in his NHL career, 71 of Hayes' 82 points have been primary points, and 40 of his 51 career NHL assists have been primary assists.
• Dan Girarditied for the team-high with three blocked shots. By skating in tonight's contest, Girardi became the 10th defenseman in franchise history to play at least one regular season game in 11 different seasons with the Rangers (along with Harry Howell, Brian Leetch, Ron Greschner, Ott Heller, Jim Neilson, Rod Seiling, Ching Johnson, Dave Maloney, and James Patrick.
• Marc Staaltied for the team-high with three blocked shots. By skating in tonight's contest, Staal became the 11th defenseman in franchise history to play at least one regular season game in 10 different seasons with the Rangers.