25 things about the New York Rangers
Rangers facts you might like to know going into their first-round playoff series against the Flyers.
1 The Rangers finished the regular season with a 45-31-6 record with 96 points, two more than the Flyers (42-30-10).
2 The Rangers are appearing in the NHL playoffs for the ninth time in 10 seasons after the league did not play during the 2004-05 season because of the lockout.
3 In the team's history, the Rangers have made the postseason 56 times since their inaugural season in 1926. New York has missed the playoffs 31 times.
4 Three Rangers centers — Derek Stepan, Brad Richards and Brian Boyle — played in all 82 games. New York also had three players who each missed one game.
5 Left wing Mats Zuccarello led the Rangers with 59 points, on 19 goals and 40 assists. Center Derek Stepan tied him for the team lead in assists and was third in goals scored (17).
6 Left wing Rick Nash led New York with 26 goals, six more than center Brad Richards. It marks the 10th straight time in his career that Nash has scored at least 20 goals and the second time in two seasons with New York. He spent his first nine seasons with Columbus.
7 The Rangers have won the Stanley Cup four times, most recently in 1994 over the Vancouver Canucks.
8 The Flyers have struggled with the Rangers at Madison Square Garden. In their last eight meetings in New York, the Rangers have beaten the Flyers all eight times.
9 New York fell to Philadelphia in both meetings this season at the Wells Fargo Center, 2-1 and 4-2.
10 The Rangers had the Flyers' number in both meetings at the Garden, 4-1 and 3-1.
11 The Rangers will enter the playoffs with one of the best goaltenders in the business, Henrik Lundqvist. In 63 games this season, Lundqvist had a 33-24-5 record and a 2.36 goals-against average.
12 Lundqvist's backup, Cam Talbot, went 12-6-1 with a 1.64 goals-against.
13 After winning six of eight games to close out March, the Rangers are 3-3 in April.
14 George Lewis "Tex" Rickard, president of Madison Square Garden, was awarded an NHL franchise for the 1926-27 season in an attempt to compete with the New York Americans. Rickard's team quickly earned the nickname "Tex's Rangers" after their owner, who spent his early life in Texas.
15 The Rangers are owned by Madison Square Garden L.P., a subsidiary of Cablevision System Corporation, coached by Alain Vigneault and the team's general manager is Glen Sather. In a stunning move in early March, New York shipped team captain Ryan Callahan to Tampa Bay, therefore not having a captain for the first time since 2008.
16 The Rangers will be meeting with the Flyers in the playoffs for the first time in 17 years. When the two teams last met, in the 1997 conference finals, Philadelphia took the series in five games before falling to Detroit in four games in the Stanley Cup finals.
17 In New York's long history, the team's four Stanley Cups have come in 1928, '33, '40 and '94.
18 The most famous player in NHL history retired as a Ranger in 1999. Wayne Gretzky, who retired with 894 goals and 1,963 assists, called it a career after scoring 57 goals in his final three seasons with New York.
19 Center Brad Richards led the Rangers with 259 shots during the regular season while Rick Nash finished second with 258.
20 New York has won 13 of its last 17 meetings against Philadelphia dating back to the Rangers' 7-0 win at Madison Square Garden on March 6, 2011. Among those 17 meetings, the Rangers have allowed two or fewer goals in 14 games.
21 The Rangers' roster lists one former Flyer, Dan Carcillo (2009-11). The Flyers also have one former Ranger: right wing Adam Hall, who played with New York in 2006-07.
22 New York finished the regular season 18th in the NHL with an average of 2.61 goals per game. The Anaheim Ducks led the league at 3.21 while the Flyers were eighth at 2.84.
23 The Rangers made up for their lack of scoring with a strong defensive effort and solid goaltending. New York finished fourth in the league with a 2.32 goals-against average. The Flyers were 20th, at 2.77.
24 Five members of the 1980 U.S. Olympic team that stunned the Soviets went on to become New York Rangers: Dave Silk, the only one to be drafted by the Rangers, Rob McClanahan, Mark Pavelich, Bill Baker and head coach Herb Brooks.
25 Spending his entire career with the Rangers from 1960-78, right wing Rod Gilbert finished as the team's all-time leading scorer with 406 goals — a record that still stands. Gilbert is also third on New York's list of all-time games played with 1,065