New York Rangers vs St. Louis Blues: A tough road test

Stuff you should know

• This will be Henrik Lundqvist’s 882nd career NHL game. That will tie him with John Vanbiesbrouck for ninth place overall.  He is right behind Tony Esposito with 886 games in eighth place.
• Pavel Buchnevich is completely snakebit.  Despite playing on the second line with Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad he has only three goals and three assists in his last 22 games. That’s a 6.5% shooting percentage.  His overall shooting percentage of 8.9% is the worst among Ranger forwards.
• The Rangers are the only team in the NHL with both a forward and a defenseman in the top six in the league in points.  Artemi Panarin is sixth with 61 points and with his big night, Tony DeAngelo is now fifth among defenseman with 36 points.  The last time that happened in New York, the forward was named Wayne Gretzky and the defenseman was named Brian Leetch.
• No one is talking about it, but the top power play unit is not having a good year.  Mika Zibanejad has scored two power play goals and had one power play assist in his last 12 games.   Artemi Panarin has had only one power play goal in his last 24 games.  He has notched six assists in that time, but seven power play points in 24 games isn’t good.
• Chris Kreider has quietly improved his numbers and is headed for his best NHL season. At his current pace he will finish with 27 goals and 55 points. His career best is 28 goals and 51 points.  He’s enhancing his reputation as the best deadline rental candidate in the league and setting himself up for a big payday this summer.
• The Rangers swept the season series last year, winning one game when the Blues were bad (before January1) and one when they were good.  The Rangers have a 6-2-2 record against St. Louis over the last five seasons.