WILD TIMES BREWING AT MSG, IN MORE WAYS THAN THE OBVIOUS

NEW YORK RANGERS vs. MINNESOTA WILD
Friday, Feb. 23, 2018, 7:00 p.m. ET
Madison Square Garden – New York, NY
Rangers: 27-29-5 (59 pts)
Wild: 33-20-7 (73 pts)

BY: The New York Rangers

The New York Rangers’ 2017-18 Media Guide can be found via the following link: HERE

TONIGHT’S GAME

The Rangers play their 62nd game of the 2017-18 season and conclude a back-to-back set tonight, Feb. 23, against the Minnesota Wild at Madison Square Garden (7:00 p.m. ET – TV: MSG Network; Radio: ESPN 98.7 FM). The Blueshirts are concluding their ninth back-to-back set of the season. Following the conclusion of tonight’s game, the Rangers have two more back-to-back sets in 2017-18 (Mar. 2 at Calgary and Mar. 3 at Edmonton; Mar. 30 vs. Tampa Bay and Mar. 31 at Carolina).

RANGERS VS. WILD

• All-Time: 14-9-0-0 (7-3-0-0 at home; 7-6-0-0 on the road)
• 2017-18: Tonight’s game is the second of two meetings between the Rangers and Wild, and the only meeting between the two teams at MSG. The Rangers have posted a 0-1-0 record (0-0-0 at home; 0-1-0 on the road), following the Wild’s 3-2 win on Feb. 13 at Minnesota. Kevin Hayes registered two points (one goal, one assist) in the game, while John Gilmour (goal) and Neal Pionk (assist) each tallied their first career NHL point. The Rangers were 2-for-4 (50.0%) on the power play in the game.
• The Rangers have won six of their last 10 games against Minnesota, dating back to Mar. 27, 2012 (6-4-0 record over the span).
• The Blueshirts have won five of their last seven home games against the Wild, dating back to Dec. 5, 2005 (5-2-0 record).

RANGERS-WILD CONNECTIONS

• Marc Staal and Eric Staal are brothers. Marc and Eric, along with their brother, Jordan, are the only trio of brothers in the history of the NHL, NFL, MLB, or NBA who were all selected 12th overall or higher in the Draft.
• Eric Staal played a part of one season with the Rangers (2015-16).
• Matt Cullen played one season with the Rangers (2006-07).
• Steven Kampfer played a part of one season with the Wild (2011-12).
• The Rangers have four players on their roster who were born in Minnesota: Ryan McDonagh (St. Paul, Minnesota), Brady Skjei (Lakeville, Minnesota), Neal Pionk (Hermantown, Minnesota), and Vinni Lettieri (Excelsior, Minnesota). Skjei and Lettieri played collegiate hockey at the University of Minnesota (Skjei – 2012-13 – 2014-15; Lettieri – 2013-14 – 2016-17), while Pionk played collegiate hockey at the University of Minnesota Duluth (2015-16 and 2016-17).
• Kevin Shattenkirk and Chris Stewart were teammates with the Avalanche and Blues and were part of the same trade that sent them from Colorado to St. Louis on Feb. 19, 2011. Shattenkirk and Stewart were teammates with Colorado for part of one season (2010-11) and with St. Louis for parts of four seasons (2010-11 – 2013-14).
• Brady Skjei, Vinni Lettieri, and Mike Reilly were all teammates with the University of Minnesota for two seasons (2013-14 and 2014-15) and helped the Gophers win the Big Ten Championship in 2014-15. Skjei and Reilly were teammates for three seasons with the University of Minnesota (2012-13 – 2014-15).
• Kevin Shattenkirk, Chris Stewart, and Daniel Winnik were all teammates with the Avalanche for part of one season (2010-11).
• Peter Holland and Daniel Winnik were teammates with the Ducks for parts of two seasons (2012-13 and 2013-14) and with the Maple Leafs for parts of two seasons (2014-15 and 2015-16).
• Paul Carey and Daniel Winnik were teammates with the Capitals for parts of two seasons (2015-16 and 2016-17).
• Chris Kreider, Charlie Coyle, and Jason Zucker helped the United States win a bronze medal at the 2011 IIHF World Junior Championship. J.T. Miller, Coyle, and Zucker represented the United States at the 2012 IIHF World Junior Championship.
• Chris Kreider and Jason Zucker helped the United States win a gold medal at the 2010 IIHF World Junior Championship.
• Mika Zibanejad and Jonas Brodin represented Sweden at the 2011 IIHF World U18 Championship and the 2012 IIHF World Junior Championship. The two players helped Sweden earn a gold medal at the 2012 IIHF World Junior Championship.
• Zibanejad, Brodin, and J.T. Miller were all selected in the first round of the 2011 NHL Entry Draft.
• Brady Skjei and Matt Dumba were both selected in the first round of the 2012 NHL Entry Draft.
• Henrik Lundqvist and Jonas Brodin helped Sweden win a gold medal at the 2017 IIHF World Championship.
• J.T. Miller, Jimmy Vesey, and Mike Reilly all helped the United States earn a gold medal at the 2013 IIHF World Junior Championship.
• Jimmy Vesey and Charlie Coyle both played for the South Shore Kings in the Eastern Junior Hockey League (Vesey – 2011-12; Coyle – 2009-10). Vesey, Coyle, and Mike Reilly helped the United States earn a bronze medal at the 2015 IIHF World Championship.
• Mats Zuccarello and Nino Niederreiter were teammates with Team Europe at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey.
• Kevin Shattenkirk and Mikko Koivu were teammates with TPS of Liiga in Finland for part of one season (2012-13).
• Ryan McDonagh and Alex Stalock are both natives of St. Paul, Minnesota. 

INDIVIDUAL CAREER STATISTICS VS. WILD

• Mats Zuccarello – 10 GP, 2-8-10 – Zuccarello has recorded an assist/point in three of the last four games against Minnesota, and he has registered six assists/points over the span.
• Cody McLeod – 53 GP, 5-5-10 – McLeod has skated in more games and has registered more penalty minutes (105) against Minnesota than against any other opponent in his NHL career.
• David Desharnais – 8 GP, 1-9-10 – Desharnais has registered four assists/points in his last five games against the Wild, and he has posted three multi-point games in eight career contests against Minnesota.
• Chris Kreider – 8 GP, 4-2-6 – Kreider has registered four points (three goals, one assist) and a plus-five rating in his last three games against Minnesota.
• J.T. Miller – 7 GP, 2-3-5 – Miller has tallied a point in four of the last six games against the Wild.
• Mika Zibanejad – 9 GP, 3-2-5 – Zibanejad has recorded three points (two goals, one assist) in his last five contests against Minnesota.

HOME COOKING

The Blueshirts have earned at least one point in 17 of their last 24 home games, dating back to Oct. 26 (16-7-1 record). In addition, the Rangers have registered at least one point in 21 of 32 home games in 2017-18 (18-11-3 record).

BACK-TO-BACK

Since the start of last season, the Rangers have posted a 14-10-0 record in the second game of a back-to-back set. In their last 106 back-to-back sets (since the start of the 2010-11 season), the Blueshirts have posted a 67-33-6 record in the second game of the set.

NET RETURNS

Alexandar Georgiev made his NHL debut last night at Montreal, becoming the second goaltender to make his NHL debut with the Rangers this season (Brandon Halverson – Feb. 17 at Ottawa). Prior to the 2017-18 season, the last season in which two rookie goaltenders appeared in at least one game with the Rangers, as well as made their NHL debut with the Rangers, was 2005-06 (Henrik Lundqvist and Chris Holt).

YOUTH SERVED

Three Rangers rookie defensemen played in last night’s game against the Canadiens (John Gilmour, Rob O’Gara, and Neal Pionk). Prior to last night’s contest, the last time the Blueshirts had three rookie defensemen all play in the same game was on Feb. 10, 2010, vs. Nashville (Michael Del Zotto, Matt Gilroy, and Corey Potter).

BROADWAY DEBUT

Alexandar Georgiev and Rob O’Gara both made their Rangers debuts last night against Montreal. Including Georgiev and O’Gara, 17 players have made their debut with the Blueshirts this season (David Desharnais, Kevin Shattenkirk, Paul Carey, Filip Chytil, Tony DeAngelo, Ondrej Pavelec, Adam Cracknell, Vinni Lettieri, Peter Holland, Daniel Catenacci, Cody McLeod, John Gilmour, Neal Pionk, Ryan Sproul, Brandon Halverson, Georgiev, and O’Gara). Eight rookies have played at least one game with the Rangers in 2017-18 (Boo Nieves, Gilmour, Pionk, Catenacci, Chytil, Halverson, Georgiev, and O’Gara).

SHOOTING GALLERY

The Rangers have recorded 40 or more shots on goal in two of the last four games. The Blueshirts have registered 30 or more shots on goal in each of the last five games, in seven of the last nine games, and in 33 of 61 games in 2017-18.

KING HENRIK

Henrik Lundqvist is the first goaltender in NHL history who has earned 20 or more wins in each of his first 13 seasons, as well as the first goaltender in NHL history who has earned at least 20 wins in 13 consecutive seasons at any point during the course of a career. Lundqvist is six appearances away from 800 in his NHL career, as well as six appearances away from passing Nikolai Khabibulin for the most appearances by a goaltender who was born outside of North America in NHL history. When he makes his next appearance, Lundqvist will tie Hall of Famer Rogie Vachon for 16th place on the NHL’s all-time appearances list with 795.

HEY HEY HAYES

Kevin Hayes enters the contest with a three-game point streak (two goals, one assist), and he has tallied a goal in each of the last two games. Hayes has recorded a point in six of the last seven games and has registered eight points (four goals, four assists) over the span. He has recorded 10 points (five goals, five assists) in 12 games since returning to the Rangers’ lineup on Jan. 25 at San Jose following an injury.

SKJEI HEY KID

Brady Skjei is one of two Rangers (and the only defenseman) who have skated in every game this season. He has led the Rangers in ice time in six of the last eight contests.

PAV’S PARTY

Pavel Buchnevich has recorded 25 points (nine goals, 16 assists) in 30 games at MSG this season, and he leads the Rangers in points at MSG in 2017-18. He is one of nine players of Russian nationality who has tallied at least 30 points in a season with the Rangers in franchise history (Kovalev, Nemchinov, Zubov, Anisimov, Kamensky, Bure, Karpovtsev, Zherdev).

SPECIAL TEAMS

Power Play:

• The Rangers were 1-for-4 (6:38) last night at Montreal.
• The Blueshirts have recorded at least one power-play goal in nine of the last 15 games (12-for-44; 27.3%), in 10 of the last 17 games (13-for-48; 27.1%), in 11 of the last 19 contests (14-for-52; 26.9%), and in 14 of the last 23 games (16-for-64; 25.0%).
• New York has recorded six power-play goals over the last seven games (6-for-22; 27.3%).

Penalty Kill:

• The Rangers were 5-for-5 (9:01) last night at Montreal.
• The Blueshirts have not allowed a power-play goal in each of the last three games (8-for-8) and in five of the last six contests (14-for-15; 93.3%).
• The Rangers have killed off 31 of their opponents’ 35 power play opportunities over the last 12 games (88.6%).

UPCOMING MILESTONES

• Rick Nash – 1 point away from 800 in his NHL career
• J.T. Miller – 1 assist away from 100 in his NHL career
• Mats Zuccarello – 4 goals away from 100 in his NHL career
• Mika Zibanejad – 5 goals away from 100 in his NHL career
• Kevin Hayes – 5 assists away from 100 in his NHL career
• Alain Vigneault – 5 games away from 1,200 in his NHL head coaching career
• Henrik Lundqvist – 6 appearances away from 800 in his NHL career
• Pavel Buchnevich – 6 games away from 100 in his NHL career

INJURIES (113 Man-Games Lost to Injury)

• Chris Kreider (day-to-day) – has missed 24 games
• Kevin Shattenkirk (meniscus tear) – has missed 15 games
• Ryan McDonagh (upper body) – has missed seven games
• Ondrej Pavelec (sprained MCL) – has missed six games
• Steven Kampfer (fractured hand) – has missed five games

RECENT TRANSACTIONS

• Feb. 22 – Recalled Vinni Lettieri from Hartford (AHL); Acquired Yegor Rykov and a second-round pick in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft in exchange for Michael Grabner
• Feb. 21 – Assigned Ryan Sproul to Hartford (AHL)
• Feb. 20 – Acquired Rob O’Gara and a third-round pick in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft from Boston in exchange for Nick Holden
• Feb. 18 – Assigned Brandon Halverson to Hartford (AHL)

THIS DAY IN RANGERS HISTORY

• Feb. 23, 1964 – Camille Henry was named the 12th captain in Rangers history.
• Feb. 23, 1969 – The Rangers defeated the Boston Bruins, 9-0, at MSG. The Blueshirts tallied three goals in a span of 38 seconds during the third period, and Brad Park registered his first career NHL goal.
• Feb. 23, 1983 – Mark Pavelich tied a single-game franchise record by tallying five goals as the Rangers defeated the Hartford Whalers, 11-3, at MSG.
• Feb. 23, 1988 – The Rangers signed Brian Leetch to his first NHL contract.
• Feb. 23, 1990 – Mike Richter tied a single-game franchise record for goaltenders by registering two assists as the Rangers defeated the Washington Capitals, 6-3.

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