Rangers at Sabres: Pregame Notes
By
New York Rangers
RANGERS RUNDOWN
The New York Rangers are set to face the Buffalo Sabres for the first time this season at KeyBank Center on Thursday (7:00 PM ET - TV: MSG Network - Radio: ESPN 880 AM).
Will Cuylle opened the season with a game-high eight hits against the Penguins. Last season, Cuylle tied for third among all NHL skaters in hits (301) and surpassed Ryan Callahan (285) for the most hits among Rangers in a single season since 2005-06.
Against the Sabres, the Blueshirts have secured at least one point (13-3-3) in 16 of their last 19 meetings dating back to Jan. 28, 2021.
New York has gained at least one point in eight of its last nine road games against Buffalo (6-1-2) since the 2020-21 campaign.
Adam Fox had a single-game career high of four takeaways to start the season. Fox finished with 40 takeaways last seaosn, the second-most among Rangers skaters.
Will Borgen is set to play in his 300th career NHL game, at Buffalo.
RANGERS AND SABRES CONNECTIONS
Rangers defenseman Will Borgen was drafted by the Sabres in the fourth round of the 2015 NHL Draft and played the first 14 games of his career with them.
Rangers assistant coach Joe Sacco was an assistant coach for Buffalo during the 2013-14 campaign.
Rangers forward Conor Sheary skated across two seasons with the Sabres from 2018-19 – 2019-20.
Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff played for the Rangers from 1988-89 - 1990-91 and was an assistant coach with the Blueshirts from 2017-2020.
Sabres defenseman Mattias Samuelsson’s father, Kjell Samuelsson, played parts of two seasons with the Rangers (1985- 86 and 1986-87).
TEAM NOTES
ROAD RANGERS
Since the 2021-22 season, on the road, the Rangers rank second in the NHL in points (206) and third in wins (94). In that same time span, the Rangers are 94-52-18 on the road.
MILLER TIME
J.T. Miller was named the 29th captain in franchise history on Sept. 16, 2025.
In 2024-25, among all NHL players who took 1,000 or more faceoffs in 2024-25, he tied for third in faceoff percentage (58.2) and reached his second highest faceoff percentage in a season since the start of his career.
Since Miller’s Rangers debut on Feb. 1, 2025, his 12 multi-point games are now tied for the second most in the NHL and and among Blueshirts, he ranked second in goals (13) and points (34), and tied for first in assists (21). His 76 hits ranked third on the team since his acquisition.
He is the only player in the NHL since the 2021-22 season to have recorded 300 or more points, as well as 700 or more hits. In that same time frame, he is one of 18 skaters to have three or more 50-plus assist seasons, and his 354 points are ranked 12th most in the NHL.
FORECHECK, BACKCHECK, TROCHECK
In 2024-25, Vincent Trocheck led the NHL in faceoff percentage (59.3) and his 910 overall faceoff wins ranked third in the league among skaters who’ve taken 1,000 or more faceoffs.
Since 1997-98, his 910 faceoff wins were ranked third most among Rangers skaters for a single season since 1997- 98. He became the first Ranger to take at least 13 faceoffs in a game and win every single one of them since the NHL began tracking.
Trocheck’s six shorthanded goals last season tied for the second most in a single season by a Ranger in history (tied with Cecil Dillon, Theo Fleury leads with seven) and shared the league lead for the most among all NHL skaters.
Last season, he notched his seventh 20-goal season of his career and ranked second in goals (25), fifth in assists (33) and fifth in points (58) on the Blueshirts. His 200 shots were the second most on the team.
FANTASTIC MR. FOX
This season, Adam Fox will be raising money towards the Tackle ALS organization to help the Sean M. Healey & AMG Center for ALS at Massachusetts General Hospital develop therapies that repair or reverse damage caused by ALS and ultimately prevent the disease entirely. For every goal he scores, he will be donating $1,023 to Tackle ALS and for every assist, he will be donating $523. Fox welcomes all Rangers fans to join him in supporting the cause. For more information about Tackle ALS and how you can help, including making a donation, please visit https://tackleals.com/.
Fox became the ninth different defenseman in NHL history to record four consecutive 50-assist seasons in 2024-25 and became one of eight defensemen in Rangers history to record four or more seasons with 10 or more goals.
His 51 assists last season ranked second among the Blueshirts and tied for sixth among NHL defensemen. His four three-point games tied for third and his 17 multi-point games tied for eighth among NHL blueliners.
He notched his 300th career assist on Mar. 20 vs. TOR and became the fourth defenseman in Rangers history to reach the milestone.
BREAD WINNER
Artemi Panarin secured his fifth 80-point season with New York in 2024-25, tying Mark Messier for the most in team history, and his fifth 50-assist season, surpassing Messier and Rod Gilbert for the second most in franchise history.
He is the only active undrafted player with 300 career goals.
He notched his fifth career 30-goal season, and second consecutive during the 2024-25 season. He is the first Ranger since Jaromir Jagr (2005-07) with 30-plus goals and 40-plus assists in back-to-back seasons. His 30-goal seasons are tied for 11th in the NHL since 2015-16.
Last season, Panarin ranked first in goals (37), assists (52), points (89), power play goals (8), power play points (25) and shots (235) among Rangers skaters, and had at least one point in 57 of his 79 games (72.2%). Since 2023-24, his 209 points (86G-123A) rank sixth in the NHL. In that same time frame, he has points in 124 of 161 games, the third most in the NHL.
Going back further, among NHL skaters since his debut in 2015-16, he ranks fourth in assists (568) and fifth in points (870).
TOO COOL
Will Cuylle’s 301 hits in 2024-25 ranked tied for third most in the NHL and surpassed Ryan Callahan (285) for the most hits among Rangers in a single season since the NHL began tracking in 2005-06.
PRESEASON IN THE REARVIEW, RANGERS IN DRIVE
New York went 2-3-1 in the preseason, including wins against the Devils and Islanders.
Noah Laba was awarded the 2025 Lars-Erik Sjoberg award, presented annually since 1988 to the top rookie in camp as selected by the media.
