Rangers vs. Utah: Pregame notes

KREIDING IN THE HISTORY BOOKS

Chris Kreider opened his 13th season in Pittsburgh with two goals, including his 10th career shorthanded goal. Kreider's 13 seasons are the eighth most in team history, with Rod Gilbert leading the way with 18 seasons.

Since 2021-22, Kreider leads the NHL with 10 shorthanded goals.

Kreider has scored 110 power play goals in his career, the second most in franchise history.

Last year, Kreider scored 39 goals and added another 36 assists for 75 points in the 2023-24 season, changing the Rangers' record books:

• Scored his 300th career goal, becoming the third player in franchise history to achieve the feat (Rod Gilbert – 406, Jean Ratelle – 336).
• Surpassed Rod Gilbert (108) for second-most power play goals in franchise history.
• Played his 800th career game on March 16, becoming the tenth skater in franchise history to reach that number
• Surpassed Adam Graves for third-most goals in Rangers history (281)
• Surpassed Adam Graves for 10th-most points in team history (508)
• Recorded his 500th career point
• Surpassed Camille Henry for fourth-most away goals in franchise history (137)
• Became the fifth Ranger to score 100 power play goals in his career
• He scored his 166th career goal at MSG (regular season and playoffs), surpassing Rod Gilbert for the most in the building's history

BREAD WINNER

Artemi Panarin collected two assists on opening night. His 35 multi-point games since the start of last season are the fifth-most in the NHL.

Last season he scored a career-high 49 goals and 71 assists for 120 points in 82 games. His point total was the second-highest for a Rangers skater in a single season (Jaromir Jagr – 123 points in the 2005-2006 season) and the fourth-highest in the NHL last year.

In the 2023-24 season, he scored a point in 67 of his 82 games, setting the franchise record for most games with a point.

Has the second-most assists (518) and fifth-most points in the NHL (783) among NHL skaters since 2015-16.

FORECHECK, BACKCHECK, TROCHECK

In his hometown, Vincent Trocheck scored a goal to open his 2024-25 season.

In the 2023-24 season, Trocheck recorded career highs in assists (52) and points (77). In New York, he finished fifth in goals, third in assists and second in points.

With a 58.7 percent faceoff clip, Trocheck had the fourth-highest draw percentage in the NHL among players who made 700 or more draws.

Trocheck was named last year's winner of the Steven McDonald Extra Effort Award, given annually to the Ranger who, as voted by fans, “goes above and beyond the call of duty.”

LIFE, LAF, LOVE

Tonight Alexis Lafreniere will play in the 300th NHL game of his career.

Since his rookie season in 2020-21, he has the fifth-most points on the Blueshirts (150) and ranks third on the Rangers in even-strength goals (71) and fourth in even-strength points over the same period Strength (138).

Last year, Lafreniere had a career-high goals (28), assists (29) and points (57) during the 2022-23 season and was one of five New York players to appear in all 82 games. On the Rangers, he ranked second in even-strength goals (26) and third in even-strength points (51).

When he scored a goal during the season, the Blueshirts were 21-1-1.

With 28 goals and 29 assists, he became the first Rangers skater age 22 or younger since Tony Amonte (1992–93) to score more than 25 goals and record more than 25 assists in a single season.

PUCK STOPS SHESTERKIN

Igor Shesterkin began the season with a 31-save shutout, the first by a Ranger goaltender in his season-opening game since October 12, 1956, when Gump Worsley shut out the Blackhawks. The only other goalkeepers in Rangers history
John Ross Roach (November 11, 1930 and November 15, 1928), Dave Kerr (November 7, 1937) and Hal Winkler (November 16, 1926) recorded a season-opening shutout.

Shesterkin became the fifth goaltender to record three season-opening wins for the Rangers. The 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 ranked third in wins (36), fifth in save percentage (.913) and seventh in GAA (2.58).

He posted his third straight 30-win season. Only two other goalies in franchise history have had three 30-win seasons in their careers: Henrik Lundqvist (11) and Ed Giacomin (5).

He also finished 16-5-1 in his final 22 games of the year.

FANTASTIC LORD. FOX

Adam Fox set career highs last season with 17 goals, 56 assists and 73 points. He scored the most goals by a Rangers defender since Brian Leetch in the 2000/2001 season (21).

Among NHL blueliners, he was tied for sixth in goals, sixth in points and eighth in assists.

MIKA'S MISSION

Mika Zibanejad is in his ninth season with the Rangers after being signed prior to the 2016-17 season. During that span, Zibanejad ranks fifth in the NHL with 101 power play goals, which is also the fifth-most goals in Rangers history.

Last season he scored 40 assists in a season for the third time in a row and 25 goals for the sixth time in his career in 2023/24.

He scored double-digit power play goals (12) for the seventh straight year. The only other player to score more than 10 power play goals in the last seven seasons is Steven Stamkos.

REVIEW 2023-24

The Rangers earned a trip to the Eastern Conference finals last season after defeating Washington in the first round and Carolina in the second round. Their playoff run came after a regular season in which they finished with a record of 55-23-4 and 114 points.

They finished first in the league standings for the fifth time in franchise history, won the Metro Division and the 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.
• The Blueshirts finished with the third-highest penalty kill percentage in the NHL at a clip of 84.5.
• New York's faceoff percentage of 52.3 was the third highest in team history and the highest since the 2007-08 season.
• The Blueshirts had a franchise record and league-high 28 comeback wins. Fourteen of the 28 players came behind in the third period, which is the most in the league. The Blueshirts also earned 20 wins while trailing first in a game, the most in a single season in franchise history.
• The Rangers' 106 goals in the third period were the eighth-most in franchise history and the most since 1991–92. The number of goals was the second best in the NHL.