Numbers to note when it comes to the Rangers

As the December schedule gets underway for the New York Rangers, here are some numbers to ponder.

If you are numerologist, here are some numbers that relate to the 2019-20 New York Rangers. Do they mean anything?  You decide.

0 – The number of games the Rangers have lost in regulation when going into the third period with the lead.  It sounds like a great number, but they share that with 17 other teams.  Still, they haven’t dropped a game in regulation that they led going into the third since the 2016-17 season and since February 10, 2010, their record is an impressive 247-7-18.

1.32 – That’s the average points per game number for Artemi Panarin.  The only player who has had a higher number since the lockout was Jaromir Jagr with 1.50 in 2005-06.

2 – Where Brendan Lemieux sits in the race for most penalty minutes in th6 NHL.  He is second, behind only Nick Ritchie of the Anaheim Ducks.

3 – The number of points the Rangers are out of the final wild card spot in the Eastern Conference.  They own the tiebreaker with Pittsburgh, currently in that position.

5 – The number of overtime games played by the Blueshirts, fewest in the Metropolitan Division.  The Capitals have played 12,the Flyers 10.

8 – The number of players 21 or under who have played for the Rangers this season. That’s the most in the NHL this season.

9 – The number of games it took for the Rangers to take five too many men on the ice penalties.  It felt like a lot when they took 14 last season.  They are on pace for 16 this season.  Yikes.

13 – That is the plus/minus for Kaapo Kakko, though it is -13.  That’s the worst among NHL rookies,  tenth worst overall in the league.

13 – That’s the number of power play goals the Rangers have scored at Madison Square Garden, the best home mark in the Metropolitan Division.

17.6  – That’s Ryan Strome‘s shooting percentage.  His 17.6% is 29th in the NHL among forwards with 30 shots or more. It’s down from the 22.5% he had last season for the Rangers, but still impressive.

21.6  – This is Filip Chytil‘s shooting percentage.  It’s the 13th best among forwards who have played at least 15 games.

23.5   – That is the average age of the Rangers defense corp if you don’t include Marc Staal.  Adam Fox, Libor Hajek and Ryan Lindgren all celebrate their 22nd birthdays between February 4th and 17th.

25 – The number the Rangers have played this season, one of the lowest numbers in the league. Only the Islanders and Tampa have played fewer (24).  It’s also the number of games it took to reach 13 wins on the season, the exact same as last year.

26.3 – The official average age of the New York Rangers, second youngest behind Columbus at 25.8.

28 – The percentage of goals scored by defensemen this season.  Blueliners have scored 23 of 83 goals this season, 28% of the total.

35.8 – That is the number of shots the Rangers face per game.  That’s the most of any team in the Eastern Conference.

45 –  This is the number of wins for David Quinn as coach of the Rangers.  It’s also the same number of losses as he is exactly at .500 with a record of  45-45-17

51 –   That’s how many more minutes the Rangers have been penalized compared to the competition this season.

324  –  The Rangers are leading the NHL in penalty minutes and 324 is the number.

743 –  The number of days since Henrik Lundqvist had his last shutout, a 3-0 win over Ottawa on November 19, 2017.

830 – The number of days since the Rangers’ last playoff game, a 4-2 loss to the Ottawa Senators on May 9, 2017.

9,303 – The number of days since the Rangers last hoisted the Stanley Cup.