Bread winner
Artemi Panarin has multi-point games in the first two games of a season for the second time in his career (other: 2019-20). He has never had multi-point games in three straight games to open the season.
Through his multi-point game on Saturday, his 135th with the Rangers, Vic Hadfield is tied for 10th most in franchise history.
His 36 multi-point games since the start of last season are the fifth-most in the NHL.
Among NHL skaters since 2015-16, he has the second-most assists (518) and fifth-most points in the NHL (783).
Wonderful mr. fox
Adam Fox recorded three assists in Saturday night’s home opener. It was his 12th career game with three or more assists and his first since February 15, 2024 against Montreal. Since 2019-20, his 12 such games rank fifth among NHL defensemen.
Since 2022-23, Fox’s 36 multi-point games rank fifth among NHL defensemen. Cale Makar and Quinn Hughes are tied for the lead with 47 points.
Fox had a season-high 17 goals, 56 assists and 73 points last season. It is the most goals scored by a Rangers defender since Brian Leetch in 2000–01 (21).
Among NHL blueliners, he ranked sixth in goals, sixth in points and eighth in assists.
Entry into the history books
Chris Kreider opened his 13th season with two goals in Pittsburgh, including his 10th career shorthanded goal. Kreider’s 13 seasons tie for eighth-most in team history, with Rod Gilbert’s 18 seasons leading the way.
Since 2021-22, Kreider’s 10 shorthanded goals lead the NHL.
Kreider has 110 career power play goals, the second-most in franchise history.
Last year, Kreider scored 39 goals and added an additional 36 assists for 75 points in the 2023-24 season while changing the Rangers’ record books:
He scored his 300th career goal, becoming the third player in franchise history to reach this milestone (Rod Gilbert – 406, Jean Ratel – 336). He passed Rod Gilbert (108) for the second-most goals in franchise history. He played in his 800th career game on March 16, becoming the 10th skater in franchise history to reach the record. He passed Adam Graves for the third-most goals in Rangers history (281). He passed Adam Graves for the 10th most points in team history (508). 500th career point Passed Camille Henry for fourth-most road goals in franchise history (137) Became fifth goaltender to score 100 career power play goals Scored 166th career goal at MSG (regular season and playoffs) to pass Rod Gilbert for most in building history
Pre-screening, back-checking, trucheck-checking
Vincent Trocheck has two points (1G-1A) through the first two games of the season.
In 2023-24, Trocheck set career highs in assists (52) and points (77). In New York he ranked fifth in goals, third in assists and second in points.
With a 58.7 percent clip on the faceoff point, Trocheck has the fourth-highest percentage in the NHL among players with 700 or more draws.
Trocheck was named last year’s winner of the Steven McDonald Extra Effort Award, which is presented annually to a Ranger who, as chosen by fans, “goes above and beyond the call of duty.”
Live, love, love
On October 12 against Utah, Alexis Lafreniere skated in his 300th NHL game.
Since his rookie season in 2020-21, he has the fifth-most points on the Blue Jerseys (151) and in that same frame, ranks third on the Rangers in power-play goals (71) and fourth in power-play points (138).
Last year, Lafreniere set career-highs in goals (28), assists (29), and points (57) in the 2022-23 season, and was one of five players in New York to play in all 82 games. On the Rangers, he ranked… Second in even-strength goals (26) and third in even-strength points (51).
Poch stops Shesterkin
Igor Shesterkin started the season with 31 saves, the first by a Ranger goaltender in a season opener since October 12, 1956 when Gump Worsley covered the Blackhawks. The only other goalkeeper in Rangers history
To record the season opener were John Ross Roach (November 11, 1930 and November 15, 1928), Dave Kerr (November 7, 1937) and Hal Winkler (November 16, 1926).
Shesterkin became the fifth goaltender to record three wins in the Rangers’ season opener. Others: Henrik Lundqvist (8-5-1), Gump Worsley (5-4-1), John Ross Roach (4-0-0) and Ed Giacomin (3-6-2).
Last season, Igor Shesterkin finished tied for third in wins (36), tied for fifth in save percentage (.913), and seventh in GAA (2.58).
He recorded his third straight 30-win season. Only two other goaltenders in franchise history have had three 30-win campaigns in their careers: Henrik Lundqvist (11) and Ed Giacomin (5).
He also finished 16-5-1 in his last 22 games this year.
Mika’s mission
Mika Zibanejad is in his ninth season with the Rangers after being acquired prior to the 2016-17 season. In that time frame, Zibanejad ranks fifth in the NHL in power play goals with 101, which is also the fifth-most in Rangers history.
Last season, he provided 40 assists in one season for the third year in a row and 25 goals for the sixth time in his career in 2023-24.
He had double-digit power play goals (12) for the seventh straight season. The only other player to reach 10+ power play goals in the past seven seasons is Steven Stamkos.
Recap 2023-24
The Rangers qualified for the Eastern Conference final last season, after defeating Washington in the first round and Carolina in the second round. The playoff run came after a regular season that saw them finish with a record of 55-23-4 for 114 points.
They finished first in the league standings for the fifth time in franchise history, and won the Metro Division title and eighth division title in franchise history. New York set franchise records for wins (55) and points (114).
Other notes from the 2023-24 season include:
The Rangers posted a power play percentage of 26.4, the second-best mark in franchise history (1977-78) and third-best in the NHL. With a clip of 84.5, the Blueshirts finished with the third-highest penalty kill percentage in the NHL. New York’s faceoff percentage of 52.3 ranked third in team history and the highest since the 2007-08 season. The Blueshirts had a franchise-record 28 league victories. Fourteen of the 28 came when they were trailing during the third period, the most by a draw in the league. The Blueshirts also have 20 wins while trailing in first place in a game, the most in a single season in franchise history. The Rangers’ 106 third-period goals were the eighth-most in franchise history and the most since 1991-92. In the NHL, the goal number was the second best in the NHL.
