Rangers vs. Blue Jackets: Pregame notes

KREIDING IN 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. Kreider has three goals in his last five contests.

He is second on the Rangers with 14 goals this season, with five of his 14 goals being game-winners. His career total of 49 GWGs is second most in Rangers history behind Rod Gilbert’s 52.

During his career, Kreider has scored 15 go-ahead goals in the final 10 minutes of regulation, the most in Rangers franchise history. The only active players with as many numbers are Steven Stamkos (18), Alex Ovechkin (16), Sidney Crosby (15) and Evgeni Malkin (15).

Kreider has 100 regular season goals tipped/rejected in his NHL career (92 tipped, 8 rejected). No NHL player has more since Kreider’s first NHL game in 2012-13 (Pavelski is second – 96).

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

With six more goals, Kreider becomes the second player in franchise history to have 10 or more goal seasons with more than 20 goals (Gilbert – 12).

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 on the franchise’s all-time list. In that same span, his 57 power play goals ranked third in the NHL.

ADAM’S APPLES

Adam Fox has points in four of his last six games (1G-5A) and seven assists in his last 10 games.

Fox’s 32 assists this season are tied for sixth among NHL defensemen. He is the first defenseman in franchise history to start his career with six consecutive 30-point seasons.

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

Fox is three points away from tying Harry Howell for fifth on the franchise’s all-time scoring list among defensemen.

PANARI’S POINTS

Artemi Panarin has a team-leading 19 goals and 47 points, has points in seven of his last 10 games (4G-6A) and 14 of his last 20 games (7G-14A). He is one assist away from passing Steve Vickers (586) for the ninth most in franchise history.

He has at least one point in 30 of 42 games this year, and dating back to last season, he has points in 97 of 124 games. The only NHL players to have a point in multiple games during the span are Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon (105) and Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov (103).

Panarin has 145 multipoint games since joining the Rangers in 2019-20. Only Connor McDavid (210), Leon Draisaitl (181), Nathan MacKinnon (174) and David Pastrnak (150) have more in that span. His 145 multi-point games are the eighth most in franchise history.

Panarin is the franchise’s all-time leader in points per game. match (1.30) and assists per match (0.87).

Among NHL skaters since his debut in 2015-16, Panarin has the fourth-most assists (541) and fifth-most points in the NHL (822).

TROCHECK IN THE CIRCLE

Vincent Trocheck ranks third in the NHL in faceoff percentage (60.2) and faceoff wins (524).

Trocheck has points in four of his last six games (4G-2A), 11 points in his last 13 games (6G-5A) and 17 points (8G-9A) in his last 20 games.

On the Blueshirts, Trocheck ranks second in goals (14), fourth in assists (15) and third in points (29). His 117 shots are second most on the team.

Trocheck ranks fifth among NHL forwards in average ice time (21:45). He is the only NHL forward to average at least 16:00 even strength ice time, 3:00 PP ice time and 2:00 SH ice time per game. match this season.

SHESTY’S SAVES

Igor Shesterkin is 3-0-1 in his last four starts. He has 14 wins this season and has allowed two or fewer goals in all but two of his wins. In his last 13 starts dating back to Dec. 6, Shesterkin has allowed two or fewer goals in seven of them.

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

Since the start of last season, the 24 games in which Shesterkin has allowed one or fewer goals ranks second among NHL goaltenders.

Shesterkin goes back to the 2021-22 season and has ranked among the best in the NHL.

MIKA’S MISSION

Mika Zibanejad has points in six of his last eight games (2G-4A).

Zibanejad (238) is two goals away from tying Brian Leetch (240) for 10th most in franchise history. The list is topped by Rod Gilbert (406). When he scores a goal this year, the Rangers are 7-1-0.

He has recently reached career milestones:

• Tallied career 400 on January 5, becoming the third active Swedish player to reach the mark (Others: E. Karlsson and V. Hedman)
• Recorded his 700th career point on January 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 established a career high of 24 points (11G-13A), and on the Blueshirts he ranks first in plus/minus (+6).

His team-leading 158 hits rank sixth 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).

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