Rangers vs. Hurricanes: Pregame Notes

The New York Rangers finish the month of January and a four-game homestand on Tuesday night against the Carolina Hurricanes (7:00 PM ET - TV: MSG Network - Radio: ESPN 880 AM). Four of New York’s next five games will be played at MSG.

RANGERS RUNDOWN

• New York has points in 10 of its last 11 games (7-1-3) and 11 of its last 13 contests (8-2-3). The Rangers have won six of their last nine games.
• Since Jan. 2, the Blueshirts rank tied for second in the NHL in points (19), tied for fourth in wins (8), and first in goals scored (47).
• At home, the Rangers have won four of their last five games and have points in six of their last seven (5-1-1).
• New York’s 19 points in the month of January are the most in the calendar’s first month since 2013-14 (21) and tied for the sixth most in team history.
• The Rangers have recorded a combined 72 shots on goal in their last two games (37 in both).
• The Rangers have had 23 different players score a goal this season, tied for the second most in the NHL, and 26 unique point getters, tied for third in the league.
• Since Jan. 2, Rangers defensemen have accounted for 36 points (6G-30A) with all six defensemen having four or more points.
• New York ranks fourth in the NHL in penalty kill percentage (83.4) and have had a perfect penalty kill in six of its last nine games. The Rangers’ seven shorthanded tallies rank third in the NHL (FLA - 11, TBL - 8).
• The Blueshirts have scored at least three goals in nine of their last 12 contests, including eight games with 4-plus goals. New York has scored four or more goals in each of its last four games.
• In their last four games, 18 Rangers skaters have notched a point and 16 have scored a goal.
• The Rangers rank second in the NHL in faceoff percentage (53.7) and have been 50 percent or better in 35 of 49 games this season (71.4 percent), including their last five games.
• Jonathan Quick is one win away from being the 15th goaltender, and first American-born netminder, to reach 400 career victories. Of the 14 goaltenders in NHL history who have earned 400 or more career wins, three of played for the Rangers (Henrik Lundqvist, Terry Sawchuk, and Jacques Plante).
• When the Blueshirts score four or more goals in a game, they are 14-3-3 and when they allow two or fewer goals, they are 21-2-0. The Rangers have allowed two or fewer goals in 21 of 24 victories this season.
• Since the start of last season, the Rangers have posted a 59-2-0 record in 61 regular season games in which they have allowed two goals or fewer (not counting team goals awarded for shootout win).
• On the year, New York is 15-2-2 when leading after one period and 18-1-2 when leading after the second period.

RANGERS AND HURRICANES CONNECTIONS

• Rangers forward Vincent Trocheck played parts of three seasons for the Hurricanes (2019-20 – 2021-22). From the time he was acquired by the Hurricanes on February 24, 2020 until 2021-22, Trocheck ranked third on the team in points (96), tied for third in assists (57), fourth in goals (39), and second in power play goals (14).
• Rangers head coach Peter Laviolette was the head coach for the Hurricanes from 2003-04 to 2008-09, winning the Stanley Cup with the franchise in 2006.
• Rangers defenseman Adam Fox was acquired by the Rangers from Carolina on Apr. 30, 2019.

PANARIN’S POINTS

Artemi Panarin has a team-leading 21 goals and 52 points, has points in four-straight games (2G-3A) and 15 points in his last 15 games (6G-9A). Since Jan. 5, Panarin’s 13 points (5G-8A) are tied for the eighth most in the NHL.

Panarin has reached the 50-point mark for his sixth straight time as a member of the Rangers. The only players in franchise history to record as many consecutive 50-point seasons are Rod Gilbert (10: 1967-68 – 1976-77), Andy Bathgate (9: 1955-56 – 1963-64), Jean Ratelle (8: 1967-68 – 1974-75), Mika Zibanejad (6: 2018-19 – 2023-24), Mark Messier (6: 1991-92
– 1996-97) and Steve Vickers (6: 1972-73 – 1977-78).

With his 20th goal, Panarin became the sixth Rangers player since 1990-91 to tally four consecutive 20-goal seasons joining, Mika Zibanejad (7 from 2017-18 – 2023-24), Chris Kreider (6 from 2018-19 – 2023-24), Adam Graves (5 from 1995-96 – 1999-00), Petr Nedved (5 from 1998-99 – 2002-03) and Mike Gartner (4 from 1990-91 –1993 94).

He has at least one point in 34 of 47 games this year and dating back to last season, he has points in 101 of 129 games. The only NHL players who have tallied a point in more games over the span are Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon (109) and Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov (107).

Among NHL skaters since his debut in 2015-16, Panarin has the fourth most assists (547) and fifth most points in the NHL (833).

Panarin has 145 multi-point games since joining the Rangers in 2019-20, tied for the fifth most in the NHL in that span. Panarin is the franchise’s all-time leader in points per game (1.29) and assists per game (0.86).

SHESTY’S SAVES

Igor Shesterkin is 6-1-1 in his last eight starts with two shutouts and has allowed two or fewer goals in five of the eight games.

On the year, he has allowed two or fewer goals in 15 of his 17 wins this year and in 11 of his last 17 starts, dating back to Dec. 6. Since the beginning of last season, the 27 games in which Shesterkin has allowed one or fewer goals rank tied for first among NHL goaltenders.

Shesterkin has made 40 more saves on four occasions this season. When he makes 40 or more saves in a game over his career, the Rangers are 14-2-1.

Dating back to the 2021-22 season, Shesterkin has ranked among the best in the NHL.

TROCHECK IN THE CIRCLE

Vincent Trocheck has three points (1G-2A) in his last three games. He ranks third in the NHL in faceoff percentage (60.2) and faceoff wins (581).

On the Blueshirts, Trocheck ranks tied for second in goals (15) and points (32), and tied for fourth in assists (17). His 131 shots are the second most on the team.

Trocheck ranks seventh among NHL forwards in average ice time (21:31). He is one of three NHL forwards (Marner, Hagel) averaging at least 16:00 of even strength ice time, 3:00 of PP ice time, and 2:00 of SH ice time per game this season.

ADAM’S APPLES

Adam Fox has multi-point games in three of his last four contests and six assists in his last six games. He has points in seven of his last 11 games (1G-9A) and 12 assists in his last 15 games.

Fox has tallied his sixth consecutive 40-point season since making his debut with the Rangers. The only Rangers blueliners with as many straight seasons with 40 points are James Patrick (7: 1985-86 to 1991-92) and Brian Leetch (6: 1993- 94 to 1998-99).

Fox’s 37 assists this season are tied for the fifth among NHL defensemen and his 12 multi-point games are tied for the fifth most in the league among blueliners.

Since making his NHL debut in 2019-20, Fox has been one of the best blueliners in the NHL.

KREIDING INTO THE HISTORY BOOKS

Chris Kreider, with 115 career power play goals, sits one power play goal away from tying Camille Henry for the most in franchise history.

He ranks second on the Rangers with 15 goals this season, with five of his 15 goals being game-winning tallies. His career total of 49 GWGs are the second most in Rangers history behind Rod Gilbert’s 52.

With five more goals, Kreider will become the second player in franchise history to have 10 or more 20-plus goal seasons (Gilbert - 12).

Over the course of his career, Kreider has scored 15 go-ahead goals in the final 10 minutes of regulation, which is the most in Rangers franchise history. The only active players with as many tallies are Steven Stamkos (18), Alex Ovechkin (16), Sidney Crosby (15) and Evgeni Malkin (15).
Kreider has 100 regular season goals on tips/deflections in his NHL career (92 tipped, 8 deflected). No NHL player has more since Kreider’s first NHL regular season game in 2012-13 (Pavelski is second - 96).

Kreider has 41 career multi-goal games, one shy of tying Camille Henry (42 GP) for the sixth most in Rangers history.

Since 2021-22, Kreider’s 11 shorthanded goals are the most in the NHL. His 11 career shorthanded goals are tied with Walt Tkaczuk and Mika Zibanejad for fifth place on the franchise’s all-time list. In that same span, his 57 power play goals rank tied for third in the NHL.

MIKA’S MISSION

Mika Zibanejad has points in eight of his last 13 games (3G-5A) and is one goal away from tying Brian Leetch (240) for the 10th most in franchise history. The list is topped by Rod Gilbert (406).

When he scores a goal this year, the Rangers are 7-1-1.

Zibanejad’s 104 power play goals with the Blueshirts rank fifth in franchise history and since 2016-17, the tallies are the sixth most in the league.

He has recently notched career milestones:

• Tallied his 400th career assist on Jan. 5, becoming the third active Swedish player to reach the mark (Others: E. Karlsson and V. Hedman)
• Recorded his 700th career point on Jan. 2, becoming the 15th Swedish player in NHL history with 700 career points and just the third active (Erik Karlsson and Victor Hedman).

TOO COOL

Will Cuylle has points in three of his last four games (2G-1A) and this season has established a career-high of 27 points (13G-14A).

His team-leading 177 hits rank tied for third in the NHL.

Cuylle required the fewest games (23 GP) to 20 points in a season by a Rangers player under the age of 23 since Alex Kovalev (20 GP in 1995-96).

BLUESHIRT BULLETS

• Alexis Lafrenière has points in four-straight games (2G-3A) and points in five of his last six games (2G-4A). The Rangers have posted a 65-11-4 record in the 80 regular season games which has scored a goal in his NHL career.
• Reilly Smith has back-to-back games with multi-point efforts. The Blueshirts are 17-4-0 this season when Smith notches a point and 9-1-0 when he scores a goal.
• Vincent Trocheck and Will Cuylle are two of five NHL players with 13+ goals and 135+ hits.
• K’Andre Miller has points in three of his last four games (1G-3A). His 35 takeaways are tied for the fourth most in the NHL among defensemen.
• Sam Carrick has points in five of his last nine games (3G-4A) dating back to Jan. 9.