NEW YORK RANGERS NOTES:

LAST GAME
Colorado Avalanche 3, New York Rangers 2 – SHOOTOUT – October 25, 2022 – (Madison Square Garden)
NYR Goals: B. Goodrow (2), A. Fox (2)
COL Goals: V. Nichushkin (7), L. O’Connor (1), E. Rodrigues (SOW)
NYR Goalie: I. Shesterkin (OTL – 42/44)
COL Goalie: A. Georgiev (W – 44/46)
NYR Shots: 46
COL Shots: 44
NYR PP: 0/4
NYR PK: 2/3

RECAP/NOTES: The Rangers fell in a shootout to Colorado on Tuesday night after tallying a game-tying goal in the third period. New York registered 46 shots on goal in the shootout loss, their most of the season and most since April 3, 2022 against the Flyers. Barclay Goodrow scored a goal and tallied an assist for his 20th career multi-point game and first since April 27, 2022 against Montreal. Sammy Blais tallied his first point of the season, becoming the 15th different player to record a point for the team this season. Jimmy Vesey also collected his first point with an assist on Fox’s goal. It’s Vesey’s first point in a Rangers uniform since March 29, 2019 against St. Louis.

TONIGHT’S GAME

• The New York Rangers begin a stretch of three-straight road contests when they make their only visit to UBS Arena to play the New York Islanders (7:30 PM – TV: TNT – Radio: ESPN 1050 AM).

-The Blueshirts have points in three of their last four contests (1-1-2) and have tallied at least one point in five of their first seven games.

• New York completes its second back-to-back of 16 sets this season. Although, 0-1-0 this year, the Blueshirts were 8-5-1 in the second half of back-to-backs last year. New York ranked eighth in the NHL in 2021-22 with its .607 points percentage in the back half of back-to-back games.
• Last year, the Rangers won both games at UBS Arena, marking the second time in a three-year span the Rangers have had a perfect road record against the Islanders.

RECENT TRANSACTIONS
October 20 – Dryden Hunt claimed off of waivers by Colorado

TEAM NOTES
AN ART PROJECT
Artemi Panarin is tied for the league lead with 12 points (4G-8A) and ranks tied for second in the league with eight assists through seven games. Panarin recorded a point in his first six of his games of the season, the longest such run by a Rangers skater since Marian Gaborik (8 GP) in 2009-10. It was the 17th occurrence in franchise history of a player starting a season off with points in the team’s first six games.
With 12 points (4G-8A), it marks the 12th time in franchise a history a player has recorded 12 or more points in the first seven games of a season. Darren Turcotte (1990-91) and Walt Poddubny (1986-87) each had 14 points through seven games.

SHOT THROUGH THE HEART
New York registered 46 shots on goal in the shootout loss on Tuesday, their most of the season and most since April 3, 2022 against the Flyers. The Blueshirts have registered 40 or more shots on goal in three of their first seven games this season. All of last season, the team registered 40-plus shots four times. This year, the Rangers have outshot their opponent in five of seven games.

IN THE DOT
The Blueshirts were strong again in the faceoff circle last night, winning 56 percent of the draws (35-for-62). New York has been 50 percent or over in the faceoff circle in five of its seven games. Vincent Trocheck paced the Rangers with a 78.9 percent clip (15-for-19) on Tuesday, his highest mark since Dec. 30, 2021 against Montreal. The last Ranger to notch a faceoff percentage as high as Trocheck’s (minimum 19 draws) was Mika Zibanejad on Oct. 5, 2019 at Ottawa (81.8). Trocheck leads the Rangers (min. 40 faceoffs) with a 58.2 percent faceoff percentage. Last season, Trocheck ranked 13th in the league with a 54.6 faceoff percentage.

ROAD LESS TRAVELED
So far, the Rangers are 1-1-0 on the road. Away from Madison Square Garden last season, the Rangers were 25-14-2 for 52 points, ranking tied for first in road wins and tied for seventh in road points. Their 25 wins were tied for the third most in team history. On the road, the Rangers’ 27.8 power play percentage ranked second in the league and second in franchise history for a single season (1978-79 – 28.9).

I-GOR
Igor Shesterkin has earned a point in each of his five starts (3-0-2) this season. On only seven occasions has a Rangers goaltender earned at least one point in his first five starts of a season, the most recent before Shesterkin by Henrik Lundqvist in 2005-06. Shesterkin’s start against Colorado on October 25 was the 100th of his career. Shesterkin’s 63 wins are the most by a goalie through their first 100 regular-season starts with the Rangers and he is one of 16 goaltenders in NHL history with 63 or more wins through the first 100 regular-season starts of his NHL career.

MIKA OCTOBER
Mika Zibanejad has eight points (4G-4A) through seven games, including two multi-goal performances. Zibanejad recorded a multi-goal game on two occasions all of last season. Additionally, Zibanejad leads the team with 38 shots on goal, the second most in the NHL. In the month of October over his career, Zibanejad has recorded 70 points (29G-41A) in 92 games:

SPECIAL TEAMS
The Rangers have scored six power play goals through their first seven games (PPGs in 4-for-7 contests), including three against Anaheim on Oct. 17. In 2021-22, the Rangers were one of three teams in the NHL (St. Louis, Toronto) to finish in the league’s top 10 in power play and penalty kill.

POWER PLAY
• New York had a 25.2 power play percentage (55-for-218), the fourth highest in the NHL and their third highest in team history behind the 1979-80 and 1977-78 team.

• On the road, the Rangers’ 27.8 power play percentage ranked second in the league and second in franchise history for a single season (1978-79 – 28.9).

• The Blueshirts went 53-straight games without allowing a shorthanded goal, the sixth longest (tied) span in team history (tied). The Rangers were one of three teams to not allow a single shorthanded goal at home last season.

PENALTY KILL
• The Blueshirts had a 82.3 penalty kill percentage (186-for-22

NEW YORK ISLANDERS NOTES:

LAST GAME
DATE NYI RESULT SCORE NYI SCORERS IN GOAL
Oct. 23, 2022 Loss FLA 3 vs. NYI 2 Lee (2) Varlamov (29/32)
Anders Lee tallied his first multi-goal game of the season, but the New York Islanders fell to the Florida Panthers, 3-2, Sunday evening at FLA Live Arena. Cal Clutterbuck, Mathew Barzal and Noah Dobson each tallied an assist, and Semyon Varlamov made 29 saves on 32 shots faced in his second start this season.

SEASON SERIES vs. NYR
DATE LOCATION TIME TV
Oct. 26, 2022 UBS Arena (Elmont, NY) 7:30PM TNT
Nov. 8, 2022 Madison Square Garden (New York, NY) 7:00PM MSG
Dec. 22, 2022 Madison Square Garden (New York, NY) 7:00PM MSG

RECENT TRANSACTIONS
Oct. 21 Robin Salo has been assigned to Bridgeport. Sebastian Aho has been activated off IR.
Oct. 15 Sebastian Aho has been placed on IR with an upper body injury (retroactive to 10/8). Cal Clutterbuck has
been activated off the team’s IR list.

TONIGHT’S MATCHUP
Tonight, the New York Islanders host the New York Rangers in the first of three matchups between the Metropolitan Division rivals this season. The last time these teams met was April 21, 2022, at UBS Arena. The Islanders split their matchups (2-2-0) with the Rangers in 2021-22, a four-game season series which saw the visiting team win each time the two clubs met. Tonight’s matchup is the Rangers’ sole visit to UBS Arena this season, as the Islanders look to earn their first Metropolitan Division victory of 2022-23.

INJURIES GAMES MISSED

15 Cal Clutterbuck Oct. 13 vs. FLA

25 Sebastian Aho Oct. 13 vs. FLA – Oct. 20 vs. NJD

26 Oliver Wahlstrom Oct. 13 vs. FLA

Man Games Lost: 6

VS. THE RANGERS
2021-22 2-2-0
Last 5 meetings 3-2-0
Franchise History 133-127-19-1
NYI Home 75-55-8-5
NYI Away 58-72-11-2

ACTIVE NYI LEADERS
2021-22 M. Barzal (1g, 3a), N. Dobson (3a)
Points Z. Parise (43), J. Bailey (31), B. Nelson (27)
Goals Z. Parise (18), B. Nelson (14), A. Beauvillier (13)
Assists Z. Parise (25), J. Bailey (23), M. Barzal (21)

LAST FIVE MEETINGS VS. NY RANGERS
Apr. 21, 2022 UBS Arena (Elmont, NY) Loss (6-3)
April 1, 2022 Madison Square Garden (NY, NY) Win (3-0)
March 17, 2022 Madison Square Garden (NY, NY) Win (2-1)
Nov. 24, 2021 UBS Arena (Elmont, NY) Loss (4-1)
May 1, 2021 Nassau Coliseum (Uniondale, NY) Win (3-0)

STORYLINES
PLAYER MILESTONE DATE ACHIEVED
Anders Lee 600 NHL Games Oct. 20 vs. NJD

HOSTING THE RANGERS
Tonight is the Islanders’ third time hosting the Rangers since the opening of UBS Arena and their 144th time hosting their closest rival in franchise history. The Islanders look to earn their first home win against the Rangers on UBS Arena ice tonight; Both match-ups in Elmont last year went to the Rangers.

PENALTY KILL
The Islanders have not allowed their opponent a power play goals through each of their first six games this season, good for a franchise record. They have killed 22-of-22 penalties since October 13. Just two other NHL clubs has not allowed a power play goal in the 2022-23 regular season: Detroit and St. Louis.

SOG
The Islanders have outshot their opponent in four of six matchups so far this season. Saturday night in Tampa Bay, the Islanders outshot the Lightning 35-26. They have recorded an average of 32.5 shots per game so far this season. They finished last season with an average of 28.9.

GOALTENDING
Last season, Islanders netminder Semyon Varlamov made NHL history against the Rangers, as he became the second goaltender in league history to shut out an opponent four times on the road. Varlamov has a 12-8-2 career record vs. the Rangers, good for fifth-best among all active NHL netminders. His 12 career wins against the Rangers are the most he has recorded against any Metropolitan opponent he has faced in his career. Since January 2021, Varlamov has posted a 6-3-0 record against the Rangers. The record leads all NHL goaltenders in that span, and his 1.57 GAA is the lowest by far of any goalie that has faced the Rangers more than three times. Islanders goaltender Ilya Sorokin has faced the Rangers three times and posted a 2-1-0 record, including a .909 SV% and 2.65 GAA. The last time Sorokin faced the Rangers was April 1 at MSG, where he allowed just one goal on 30 shots, to help the Islanders earn a 2-1 win. As a tandem, Sorokin and Varlamov have posted a .925 SV% vs. the Rangers since January 2021, leading active NHL goaltenders in that span who have faced them at least three times.

POINTS LEADERS
Islanders forward Zach Parise leads active Islanders in points, goals and assists vs. the Rangers. He is tied with Pittsburgh’s Kris Letang for eighth-most of any active NHLer against them, and his 18 goals are tied for fifth-most (Stamkos).

Islanders forward Brock Nelson is second-most among active Islanders in goals against the Rangers (14) and third in points (27). Nelson scored twice the last time these teams met in April.

Islanders forward Anthony Beauvillier has recorded more points against the Rangers than any other team he has faced in his career. He has tallied 23 points (13g, 10a) in 24 career games against them.

BLUELINERS
Through the first six matchups of the season, seven of the 19 Islander goals scored have come from defensemen. An Islanders defenseman has found the scoresheet in all but one game so far this season.

Noah Dobson scored the first Islander goal of the season Thursday Oct. 13. Dobson is the first Islander since Chris Campoli (2007) and only the second in franchise history to find the back of the net in each of the Islanders’ first two games of the season. He is the first Islander defenseman since Johnny Boychuk in 2014 to tally at least one point in the first three games of the season.

Ryan Pulock tallied his first goal of the season Saturday night vs. Tampa Bay, becoming the fourth Islanders defenseman to find the back of the net this season.

Adam Pelech recorded two assists to help the Islanders to a 5-2 victory on Oct. 18 vs. San Jose. It was his eighth career multi-assist game and his first since April 3, 2022 against New Jersey.

Scott Mayfield and Robin Salo each recorded their first career multi-goal games against Anaheim. October 15 was the first time since January 1993 that two Islanders defensemen have recorded multi-goal outings in the same contest. It was the second time in his career that Mayfield has needed only two games or fewer to score his first goal of the season (last: 2018-19).

Robin Salo’s +4 rating on October 15 was a career-high and matched the Islanders’ single-game high set last season by Brock Nelson (Nov. 4 vs. MTL). He is the first Islander defenseman since Denis Potvin (most recently in 1982) to record two goals and record a +4 rating in the same game.