Rangers vs. Islanders: Pregame Notes

RANGERS RUNDOWN

The New York Rangers face the Islanders in the Battle of New York for the first time in the regular season on Tuesday at The Garden (7:30 PM ET - TV: ESPN - Radio: ESPN 880 AM). They will play three of their next four games at home.

Igor Shesterkin was named the NHL’s First Star of the Week for the week ending Oct. 4.

The Blueshirts are looking to win four of their first five games of the season for the 10th time in franchise history and second time in three seasons.

Through 12 periods of play this season, the Blueshirts have led or been tied after 11 of them and have allowed a goal in only four of those 12 periods.

New York leads the league with six points and their 11 goals scored are tied for the seventh-most in the NHL. They are one of seven teams this season to have posted a shutout.

The Blueshirts have gone 11-for-12 on the penalty kill this season.

The Rangers’ 99 shots against are the eighth fewest in franchise history through four games.

This season, the Blueshirts rank third in the NHL in hits (108) and blocked shots (71), and are tied for fourth in takeaways (16).

The Blueshirts’ plus-4 goal differential in the first period ranks third in the NHL and their plus-5 total goal differential is tied for fifth.

Eeli Tolvanen is one of eight players to record a goal in at least three consecutive games through their first four games with the Rangers. He is the first since Oscar Lindberg in 2015-16.

The Rangers opened their season with the second-youngest roster in the NHL with a 26.63 average age.

Since the 2025-26 season, New York’s 54.4 faceoff win percentage ranks second in the league and their 24.3 power play percentage ranks seventh.

RANGERS AND ISLANDERS CONNECTIONS

Rangers assistant coach Joe Sacco skated in parts of two seasons for the Islanders from 1997–98 to 1998–99.

Islanders forward Anthony Duclair was drafted by the Rangers in 2013 and played one season for the team (2014-15).

Islanders defenseman Tony DeAngelo played parts of four seasons with the Rangers (2017–18 to 2020–21).

TEAM NOTES

SHESTY’S SAVES

Igor Shesterkin has earned a win and tallied a point in back-to-back games. With an assist in Sunday’s game, he became the third Rangers goaltender in franchise history to have notched the feat and the first since 2010-11 (Henrik Lundqvist).

On Oct. 1, he scored the first ever goal by a goaltender in franchise history and became the 18th goaltender in NHL history to do so. His goal was the 21st goal scored by a goaltender in league history.

He became the fourth-fastest Rangers goaltender to earn 100 career home wins in franchise history (177 GP) on Oct. 1, behind Mike Richter (172 GP), Eddie Giacomin (173 GP) and Henrik Lundqvist (176 GP). Shesterkin’s 189 career wins since 2019-20 rank fifth among all NHL goaltenders.

On Oct. 1, he allowed one or fewer goals for the 94th time in his career, ranking third among all NHL goaltenders in that time span. His 94 games rank sixth all-time in Rangers franchise history. Since 2021-22, his 82 games allowing one or fewer goals rank second in the NHL.

FANTASTIC MR. FOX

Adam Fox has notched at least one assist in three-straight games (4A), tied for the longest active streak in the NHL. This season, his four assists are tied for second among all NHL defensemen and his four points are tied for third.

On Oct. 1, he notched his 76th career multi-assist game as a Ranger, surpassing James Patrick and tying Ron Greschner for the second-most multi-assist games by a defenseman in franchise history. He also tied Greschner and Mika Zibanejad for the eighth-most multi-assist games among all skaters in franchise history.

Among all NHL defensemen since 2019-20, his 76 multi-assist games rank third. In that same span, his 108 multi-point games also rank third among all NHL blueliners.

MIKA MAGIC

Mika Zibanejad has recorded three points (1G-2A) through the first four games of the season. He tallied his 134th career assist on a go-ahead goal on Sunday, surpassing Mark Messier for the sixth-most in franchise history.

In the Rangers’ home opener on Oct. 1, he scored the first goal of a game for the 60th time with New York, surpassing Chris Kreider (59) for the second-most instances in franchise history, following Rod Gilbert (72).

Zibanejad scored the Rangers’ first power play goal of the season on Oct. 1 and the 137th of his career. Since the 2017-18 season, he ranks third among all NHL skaters with 121 power play goals. In that same span, his 238 power play points rank ninth in the league.

MILLER TIME

J.T. Miller scored his first goal of the season on Oct. 4. Among all Rangers skaters last season, he ranked third in faceoff wins (547), fourth in hits (123) and fifth in goals (17) and assists (36).

Since the 2021-22 season, he is the only NHL player with 400+ points and 700+ hits. In that same time frame, his 267 assists rank 13th in the NHL.

Last season, he notched a career-high 61.5 faceoff win percentage and ranked third in the NHL among all skaters with at least 500 faceoffs taken. Since the 2024-25 season, his 59.5 faceoff win percentage also ranks fourth among all skaters with at least 1,000 faceoffs taken.

Get Tickets: New York Rangers vs. New York Islanders | Tuesday, October 6 | 7:30 PM ET