Getty Artemi Panarin of the New York Rangers
The New York Rangers have won more games than they had ever done before. The Rangers lead the NHL in points and point percentage with four games left. The Rangers are less than two weeks away from winning their fourth Presidents’ Trophy award. On and on it goes…
Not only are the Rangers, as a team, breaking records seemingly daily, but their players have also spent the season racking up milestones. That includes Artemi Panarin, who is coming off a 4-point game in the Rangers latest win on April 7 and has 115 points through 78 games this season.
🍞 Second-most points in a season in NYR history
🍞 Fourth in the NHL in scoring
🍞 Fifth in assists
🍞 Fourth in power play points
🍞 Has played in every single game (78 of 78)
Give it up for Artemi Panarin.
Panarin’s secret for putting up those numbers? Apples.
“I try to shoot the puck to [Chris Kreider] every time,” Panarin told Mollie Walker of the New York Post on April 7. “He has good position, tips it, so I like apples, you know? So why not?”
Panarin was referencing Kreider’s deflection of his shot at the start of the second period of Sunday’s 5-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens. Kreider redirected Panarin’s bullet and the puck found the back of the net, putting the Rangers up 2-1 then and there.
Will Artemi Panarin Enter the Hart Trophy Award Race?
With his assist on Kreider’s goal and a goal of his own on Sunday, Panarin is now up to a career-high 115 points, including 46 goals and 69 assists.
It’s going to be difficult for Panarin to even enter the race for the Hart Trophy award considering the monster seasons put together by Connor McDavid, Nikita Kucherov, and Nathan MacKinnon.
That being said, “Breadman” should at least get some consideration, which is what his coach in New York thinks and shared with reporters following his latest outing.
“Elite players do that, and they do it with consistency,” Rangers head coach Peter Laviolette told reporters after the win over Montreal on April 7.
Always good, always fresh.
Panarin first broke for 80-plus goals in 2018 when he scored 82 in his first season with the Columbus Blue Jackets. Since then, only McDavid (832 points), Leon Draisaitl (709), MacKinnon (686), and Kucherov (631) have scored more points than Panarin’s 625, according to Stathead.
“He’s been an elite player offensively and this year, I think, has been his best,” Laviolette said. “It’s not like ‘this huge jump and where did it come from?’ He’s done a really good job for a really long time.”
Chris “Horse” Kreider Keeps Pilling Up Power-Play Goals
By scoring the 2-1 goal on Sunday, April 8, Kreider put up his 38th goal and 70th point of the season. It was Panarin’s 68th assist this year.
Not only did Kreider inch closer to scoring 40 goals for the second time in his career with that goal (he scored 52 in 2022), but he also kept adding tallies to his Rangers resume and he’s now in sole possession of the second place among top power-play goalscorers in franchise history, according to Stathead.
Kreider has scored 109 power-play goals with the Rangers through Sunday, April 7, one more than Rod Gilbert (108) and only seven shy of Camille Henry (116) in first place.
The chemistry between Panarin and Kreider has been extraordinary this season.
Right after the latter scored his 300th career goal at the end of March, Arthur Staple of The Athletic interviewed 10 players who have assisted on the most Kreider goals. One of those players was Panarin, who shared a hilarious story with Staple, as Heavy documented.
“I usually call him Horse,” Panarin told Staple. “Because I don’t have enough English, I think ‘horse’ is like, many horses. So I just call him ‘Hor’…
“He’s not happy with that.”