COLORADO AVALANCHE NOTES:
LAST GAME – Oct. 22 (Colorado 3, Vegas 2 at T-Mobile Arena)
Alexandar Georgiev made 33 saves to backstop the Avalanche to a 3-2 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights at TMobile Arena … Nathan MacKinnon and Even Rodrigues scored power-play goals for the Avs and Valeri Nichushkin tallied his club-leading sixth goal of the year.
SF: 25 SA: 35 PP: 2-2 PK: 3-4
TONIGHT’S GAME
COLORADO @ NY RANGERS
6:10 p.m. MT / 8:10 p.m. ET
ESPN / 92.5
TV: Bob Wischusen (play-by-play), Ray Ferraro (analyst), Emily Kaplan (reporter)
Radio: Conor McGahey
The Colorado Avalanche hits the road for two weeks starting tonight in Manhattan against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden … The Avs will play a back-to-back in New Jersey and Long Island this weekend before flying to Finland for the 2022 Global Series against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
I HEAR THE TRAIN A COMING, IT’S ROLLING ROUND THE BEND….
Valeri Nichushkin leads the team with six goals and 11 points (6g/5a) in six games … He joins Nathan MacKinnon (seven) in 2018-19 and Milan Hejduk (six) in 2008-09 as the only players in Avalanche history (since the franchise relocated) to score six goals in the first six team games of the season … Val’s 11 points are the third most through six contests since the club relocated, trailing only Paul Stastny (13) in 2007-08 and Joe Sakic (12) in 1996-97 … As of Monday, Nichushkin ranked second in league scoring and was tied for second in the NHL in goals … Val scored a goal in each of the first four games, a career long goal streak and tied for the third-longest streak to begin a season in franchise history behind MacKinnon (six games in 2018-19) and Mats Sundin (five games in 1992-93)
HIT PARADE
The Avalanche had a season-high 38 hits on Saturday night in Vegas after recording 37 the night before at home against Seattle … It marked the first time that Colorado had produced 37 or more hits in consecutive games since Dec. 27-29, 2013 … The Avs had 42 on Dec. 27, 2013 at Chicago and 46 on Dec. 29, 2013 vs. Winnipeg … As of Monday, the Avalanche ranked fifth in the league in hits this season with 173.
CLIMBING THE FRANCHISE RECORD BOOKS
Erik Johnson played his 660th game as a member of the Avalanche on Saturday night in Las Vegas, passing Cody McLeod (659) for eighth place on the franchise’s all-time games played list … Samuel Girard picked up one assist against the Golden Knights, breaking a tie with Alexei Gusarov (121) for sole possession of ninth place among Avalanche/Nordiques defensemen in career helpers … With a pair of goals on Oct. 19, Mikko Rantanen passed Alex Tanguay (167) for 10th place on the franchise’s all-time goals list … Cale Makar has 47 career multi-point games, tied with Rob Blake for the fourth most by a defenseman in franchise history
AVALANCHE & RANGERS
Tonight is the first of two meetings between the Avalanche and Rangers …. The Avs won both matchups a year ago
ALL-TIME SERIES
2022-23: first meeting
Last Season: 2-0-0
Home: 1-0-0
Away: 1-0-0
All-Time: 44-40-8
H: 26-17-3
A: 18-23-5
Since ’95-96: 24-14-2
H: 12-7-0
A: 12-7-2
BACK-TO-BACK
The Avs have played two of their 13 back-to-back games so far, splitting both … Colorado is 1-1-0 in the first game and 1-1-0 in the second … The Avalanche posted a 15-5-2 (.727) combined record in back-to-back games last season, the second-best mark in the NHL behind only Minnesota (.732, 19-6-3) … The Avs finished 7-3-1 in the first game and 8-2-1 in the second (.773), with only Tampa (10-0-2, .917) posting a better record in the second half of a back-to-back.
GETTING OFFENSIVE
As of Monday, Colorado was tied for eighth in the NHL goals-per-game average (3.67) … The club averaged a league-best 4.25 goals/game during the 2022 playoffs, the highest by an team that played at least 10 games in a postseason since 1987-88 (Edmonton 4.67, Detroit 4.31) … The Avalanche finished fourth in the NHL with 308 goals (3.76 per game) during the 2021-22 regular season, surpassing the 300-mark for only the second time since relocating to Denver (326 in 1995-96) … The Avs had four 80-point scorers, most in the NHL and tied for the most in franchise history (1981-82 Nordiques) … Colorado had seven 20-goal scorers, second in the NHL (St. Louis, nine) and the club’s most 20-goal scorers since relocating to Denver.
D-LIGHTFUL
Colorado’s defensemen have combined for 20 points (4g/16a) this year, tied with Pittsburgh for the highest of any team as of Monday … The Avs defense produced 64 goals last season, a franchise record and the most by any team since the 1992-93 Capitals (94) … The Avalanche’s blueline also lead all teams in points with a franchise-record 238, the most since the 1995-96 Red Wings had 240 … Colorado’s defensemen finished with 69 points (18g/51a) during the playoffs, the most by any blueline in a four-round postseason since the 1984-85 Oilers (77).
SCHEDULE NOTES
The Avs will play 26 games against their division foes, meeting Arizona, Dallas, Nashville, St. Louis Winnipeg four times each (two home/away) and Chicago (two home/one away) and Minnesota (one home/two away) three times apiece … Colorado will play 24 games versus the Pacific Division (three times each) and 32 against teams from the Eastern Conference (one home/away).
ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGH; AVS WIN STANLEY CUP
The Avalanche won their third Stanley Cup championship in 2022 following 1996 and 2001 … Colorado claimed its title by going 16-4 in the postseason, which included a pair of sweeps and defeating the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Lightning in six games during the Final … The Avs became the sixth team to win a Cup with four or fewer postseason losses since 1987 when the NHL went to four rounds of best-of-seven … And of those six only one team had fewer losses, the 1988 Oilers (two) … The Avalanche did not lose consecutive games all playoffs
TAKE ME HOME TONIGHT
The 2021-22 Avalanche finished their best home season in franchise history with a 32-5-4 record (68 points) … Colorado tied Florida for the league lead in home points, ending with the most home points in the NHL for the second straight season after tying Penguins for league lead with 46 in 2020-21 … The Avs are just the third team over the last 30 years to post the league’s best home record in back-to-back seasons (outright or tie), joining the 2016 and 2017 Capitals and the 2007 and 2008 Red Wings … Colorado went 30-3-3 over its last 36 at Ball Arena … The Avs posted an 18-game home winning streak from Nov. 11–Jan. 30, the fifth longest run in NHL history … The club had a franchise record 22-game home point streak (20-0-2) from Oct. 30–Feb. 10, the NHL’s longest since 2013-14 (Anaheim, 20-0-2) … Colorado recently completed its best 60-game home stretch in franchise history going 49-5-6 (.867) from March 10, 2021 to October 19, 2022.
NEW YORK RANGERS NOTES:
LAST GAME
Columbus Blue Jackets 5, New York Rangers 1 – October 23, 2022 – (Madison Square Garden)
NYR Goals: A. Panarin (4)
CBJ Goals: Z. Werenski (2), A. Peeke (1), Y. Chinakhov (1), E. Robinson (1), K. Johnson (2)
NYR Goalie: J. Halak (L – 16/21)
CBJ Goalie: D. Tarasov (W – 30/31)
NYR Shots: 31
CBJ Shots: 21
NYR PP: 1/3
NYR PK: 1/1
TONIGHT’S GAME
- The New York Rangers complete a four-game homestand with a matchup against the defending Stanley Cup Champion Colorado Avalanche at Madison Square Garden (8:00 PM – TV: ESPN – Radio: ESPN 98.7 FM).
- New York begins its second back-to-back of 16 sets this season. In the first back-to-back of the year, they earned a 7-3 over Minnesota in the first game (Oct. 13) and fell in the back half 4-1 to Winnipeg (Oct. 14).
- Against Colorado, Artemi Panarin has points in his last seven games (2G-7A) and in nine of his last 10 games (4G-8A) against them. Panarin has a point in 14 of his 17 career games against Colorado and has four multi-point games and one three-point game.
- With tonight being a 8 PM start, four of the Rangers’ first five home games will have come with a different puck drop time (7:30, 7:00 (2x), 5:00, 8:00).
RECENT TRANSACTIONS
October 20 – Dryden Hunt claimed off of waivers by Colorado
TEAM NOTES
AN ART PROJECT
Artemi Panarin leads the NHL with 12 points (4G-8A) and ranks tied for first in the league with eight assists through six games and has recorded a point in all six of his games this season. His point streak to begin a season is the longest such run by a Rangers skater since Marian Gaborik (8 GP) in 2009-10. It is the 17th occurrence in franchise history of a player starting a season off with points in the team’s first six games.
SPREADING THE WEALTH
Part of the early season success for the Rangers has been the variety of scoring they have received up and down the lineup. In six games, 10 players have scored a goal, 12 have notched an assist and 14 skaters have recorded at least one point. A different player has led the team in hits in each game as well.
IN THE DOT
New York has been 50 percent or over in the faceoff circle in four of its six games and over 60 percent in two games.
The Rangers’ 66.7 faceoff win percentage on Sunday night against the Blue Jackets was their highest since Feb. 1, 2020 at Detroit (68.9). In the NHL, the Rangers rank tied for eighth with a 53.4 faceoff percentage (175-for-328).
Vincent Trocheck leads the Rangers (min. 35 faceoffs) with a 54.4 percent faceoff percentage. Last season, Trocheck ranked 13th in the league with a 54.6 faceoff percentage.
The Rangers are one of only five teams (BOS, CAR, MTL, OTT) in the NHL to have four or more players with a face-off percentage higher than 50% (minimum 30 draws).
GARDEN PARTY
New York has earned a point in three of its four home contests (2-1-1) to begin the season as they wrap up their second longest homestand of the season.
Last season, the Rangers went 27-10-4 for 58 points at home. In the NHL, they ranked tied for seventh in home wins and home points.
New York’s 27 home wins ranked tied for fourth all-time in franchise history and were their most since the 2015-16 season (also 27 wins).
Chris Kreider led the Rangers with 28 home goals, tied for the second most in the NHL behind Auston Matthews (32) and tied with Kirill Kaprizov. His 28 goals at home were tied for the most by a Ranger in a single season.
SPECIAL TEAMS
The Rangers have scored six power play goals through their first six games (PPGs in 4-for-6 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-226), the seventh highest in the NHL. New York’s 84.8 penalty kill percentage at home ranked sixth in the NHL.
