NEW YORK RANGERS NOTES:

LAST GAME
New York Rangers 4, Montreal Canadiens 1 – January 5, 2023 – Bell Centre
NYR Goals: C. Kreider (18), B. Schneider (5), F. Chytil (10, 11)
MTL Goals: J. Armia (1)
NYR Goalie: J. Halak (W -17/18)
MTL Goalie: J. Allen (L – 27/30)
NYR Shots: 31
MTL Shots: 18
NYR PP: 1/3
NYR PK: 2/2
RECAP/NOTES: Backed by a three-goal second period, the Rangers went into Montreal and came away with a 4-1 victory. Chris Kreider started the scoring with a shorthanded tally, followed up goals from Filip Chytil and Braden Schneider less than a minute apart. The Rangers allowed 18 shots in the win, tying their season-low as Jaroslav Halak won his third-straight start.

RANGERS RUNDOWN

• The New York Rangers reach the midway point of the season when they face the Devils in New Jersey on Saturday afternoon (1:00 PM ET – TV: MSG Network/NHLN – Radio: ESPN 98.7 FM).
• The Blueshirts have won three in a row, have points in four in a row (3-0-1) and are 4-1-1 in their last six games. New York has points in 12 of its last 14 games (11-2-1) and is 11-3-2 in its last 16 games. Since November 30, the Rangers rank tied for second in wins (12) and tied for third in goals (61).
• On the road, the Rangers have earned a point in seven of their last eight contests (6-1-1) and 14 of their last 17 games (12-3-2) away from home. The Blueshirts’ 84.6% penalty kill percentage on the road ranks second in the league. New York’s 28 road points this season are the fourth most in the NHL.
• New York has scored four or more goals in three-straight games and on the year is 15-0-0 when scoring four or more goals in a game. Only two other teams (VGK, ARI) are undefeated this season when scoring 4+ goals.
• The Rangers have scored five or more goals five times in their last nine games and 12 times this season. Its 12 occurrences with five goals are tied for the second most in the NHL.
• New York ranks third in the NHL in third period goals (53) and fourth in third-period goal differential (+16).
• On Thursday, the NHL announced that Igor Shesterkin was selected to participate in the 2023 NHL All-Star Game. He is the seventh goaltender in team history to earn the honors. Rangers fans can vote for remaining All-Stars on NHL.com/Vote
• The Blueshirts will play their third “afternoon” game of the season today (note: any game starting before 5 p.m. local is considered an “afternoon” or “matinee” game). Thus far, the team is 1-1-0 in these games. Last year, the club went 7-2-0 in matinee contests.
• New York has won 10 of its last 12 games against the Devils dating to March 4, 2021. The Rangers have won six of their last seven games at the Prudential Center dating back to Nov. 30, 2019.
• The Rangers defensemen group has collected 99 points, the second most in the NHL. New York’s 79 assists by defensemen are the tied for the second most in the league.

UPCOMING GAMES (ALL TIMES ET)
DATE/TIME OPPONENT/LOCATION TV RADIO
Jan. 10/7:00 PM Minnesota/MSG MSG Network ESPN 98.7 FM
Jan. 12/7:00 PM Dallas/MSG MSG Network ESPN 98.7 FM
Jan. 15/5:00 PM Montreal/MSG MSG Network ESPN 98.7 FM
Jan. 16/7:00 PM Columbus/Nationwide Arena MSG Network ESPN 98.7 FM
Jan. 19/7:00 PM Boston/MSG MSG Network ESPN 98.7 FM

LAST FIVE GAMES
DATE OPPONENT RESULT
Jan. 5 at Montreal W, 4-1
Jan. 3 Carolina W, 5-3
Jan. 1 at Florida W, 5-3
Dec. 29 at Tampa Bay SOL, 2-1
Dec. 27 Washington L, 4-0

RECENT TRANSACTIONS
January 6 – Gustav Rydahl re-assigned to Hartford
January 5 – Gustav Rydahl recalled from Hartford
January 4 – Jimmy Vesey re-signed to two-year contract extension

ALL-TIME RECORD 130-98-27-10 (297 PTS)
2022-23 1-1-0
2021-22 3-1-0
NYR HOME 72-36-20-4 (168 PTS)
NYR AWAY 58-62-7-6 (129 PTS)
LAST FIVE MEETINGS 3-2-0
LEADING SCORER(S) – CURRENT RANGERS IN CAREER G: Kreider (19) – A: Panarin (25) – Pts: Kreider, Zibanejad, Panarin (36)
LEADING SCORER(S) – ALL-TIME IN GAMES W/NYR G: Sandstrom (23) – A: Leetch (45) – Pts: Leetch (64)

NEW JERSEY DEVILS NOTES:

LAST GAME
St. Louis Blues 5 New Jersey Devils 3
(19-17-3—41 PTS) (24-12-3—51 PTS)
Three Stars:

Goals:
STL: J. Kyrou, I. Barbashev, B. Saad, R. Thomas, R. Thomas (ENG)
SCORE 1
ST 2
ND 3
RD OT SO FINAL
St. Louis 1 1 3 – – 5
DEVILS 0 2 1 – – 3
New Jersey Devils: Media Notes
NJD: J. Hughes, J. Hughes, N. Hischier (PPG)

INJURIES/ILLNESS
PLAYER INJURY OUT SINCE GAMES MISSED
Jonathan Bernier – LTIR Lower-body, hip 2021-22 39
Nate Bastian I.R. Upper-Body Nov. 27 16
John Marino Upper-body Dec. 21 7
2022-23 Total Man-Games Lost to Injury/illness: 120

DATE PLAYER ACTION
1/1/23 Ryan Graves Activated from I.R.
1/1/23 Tyler Wotherspoon Reassigned to Utica
1/5/23 Tyce Thompson Reassigned to Utica
1/5/23 Akira Schmid Recalled from Utica
1/5/23 Ondrej Palat Activated off I.R.
1/6/23 Akira Schmid Reassigned to Utica

The Devils aim to end an eight-game skid on home ice (0-7-1), which dates to Dec. 9, vs the New York Islanders (6-4, L). The last time the Devils won a game at home was Dec. 6, 2022, in a 3-0 win over Chicago. The eight-game home win-less streak is the team’s longest since 2021-22, which took place from Apr. 2, 2022, to Apr. 29 (0-6-2).

The last time that the Devils suffered a home winless streak longer than eight games was in 2020-21 when the team dropped 11 consecutive contests from Jan. 2, 2021, to March 14 (0-10-1). The longest home winless streak in franchise history dates to the Kansas City Rockies in 1975-76, which was 14 games.

Tonight’s contest marks the team’s last home game before Jersey’s team embarks on a season-long five-game road trip:
1/10 at CAR
1/13 at ANA
1/14 at LAK
1/16 at SJS
1/19 at SEA

WHAT TO KNOW
The NHL announced on Thursday that Jack Hughes was named New Jersey 2023 NHL All-Star. Hughes was a first-time NHL All-Star last season at Vegas. The team announced late in the afternoon on Thursday that goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood would be sidelined for Thursday’s contest due to precautionary reasons. Blackwood took a shot off his hand during morning skate in Detroit. Blackwood is back in the lineup for today’s contest vs the Broadway Blueshirts. The Devils are set to wear their adidas Reverse Retro sweaters for the fourth and final time this season (2-1-0). It’s a beautiful day…Jersey’s team is 3-0-1 for matinee games this season and 2-0-1 at home. The Devils are 19-0-1 when leading after the second period this season, which is tied with Boston for first in the NHL as of Jan. 6. The Devils are 16-11-2 when outshooting an opponent this season, while Jersey is 7-1-1 when outshot in a game for the 2022-23 campaign. Jersey’s team experienced its first contest decided in a shootout this season via New Year’s Day vs Carolina, which marked the franchise’s longest stretch from the start of a season without entering a shootout round (36 GP). The second longest stretch was 27 games in 2018-19. Jersey’s team is 22-4-3 when scoring three-or-more goals in a game this season. The Devils have allowed 1, or fewer, goals against 10 times this season in a game. Jersey’s team allowed one, or fewer goals against, in a game just eight times all of last season. The Devils are 14-10-2 vs the Eastern Conference and 6-5-2 vs the Metropolitan Division. Jersey’s team is 20-4-3 when Nico Hischier recorded a point in a game this season and 12-5-2 when Jack Hughes scored a goal in a game for 2022-23.

2022-23 TEAM STATS
RECORD ON DAYS OF THE WEEK
The Devils record on Saturday in 2022-23…6-2-0…at home: 3-2-0…road: 3-0-0
Record in night games in 2022-23…21-12-2…home: 8-10-1…road: 13-2-1
Record in day games in 2022-23…3-0-1…home: 2-0-1…road: 1-0-0

VS BROADWAY
The Devils and Broadway Blueshirts face-off for the third of four meetings this season, while the Rangers defeated Jersey at the Garden in the last matchup in overtime on Dec. 12 (4-3, OT-L).
Next: Mar. 30, vs NYR, 7:00 P.M.
The Devils are 1-0-1 vs Broadway this season. The last time that the Devils won a season series vs New York was 2017-18 (3-1-0).

ALL-TIME vs NY RANGERS
Record: 107-118-27-12
Home: 68-53-7-5
Road: 39-65-20-7