Rangers have chance to match team’s longest-ever winning streak

It has been more than 50 years since the Rangers last won 10 consecutive games, but the blistering Blueshirts will have a chance to match their franchise record Saturday afternoon in Philadelphia. 

There have been several factors for the team’s recent surge, emerging from a sluggish 25-game midseason stretch in which Peter Laviolette’s first-place team managed just 24 points in 25 games through a 5-2 home loss to Vegas on Jan. 26. 

One factor clearly has been the steadier offensive production from their top two forward units, with four frontline players averaging better than one point per game during the streak.

And Alexis Lafreniere is only slightly below that pace with five goals — including two in Thursday’s road win over the Devils — and three assists in the nine victories. 

Lafreniere’s regular linemates Artemi Panarin (3-12-15) and Vincent Trocheck (5-6-11) also have produced their fair share of points. Panarin registered three assists for the second time during a personal four-game point streak Thursday night, while Trocheck scored for the fifth time in four games to reach 20 for the season for the sixth time in his career. 

“It’s another good winning streak, trying to keep it going, and I feel good with Troch and Bread, for sure,” Lafreniere said after Thursday’s game, referring to his linemates’ nicknames. “We’ve played well against two really good teams, and we’re staying focused and trying to win every game.” 

Chris Kreider (7-4-11) leads the team in goals during the nine-game spurt, and regular first-line center Mika Zibanejad (4-6-10) has found the back of the net in three of the past four, with Jimmy Vesey taking over for injured Blake Wheeler on the right side the past two games. 

Zibanejad potted a power-play goal Thursday night to open the scoring shortly after the Rangers had killed off a major penalty assessed to rookie winger Matt Rempe. 

“You obviously don’t want to be put in a spot like that, but it happens,” Zibanejad said after the game. “But I think even though it’s a five-minute 5-on-4 for them, we still have a lot to gain from it, and we did. 

“Killing that off, and really killing their momentum, and then getting the goals when we got them was huge. Overall, it was a big effort and another big [win] for us.” 

The Rangers, whose 38 wins overall are most in the NHL, last posted 10 straight victories bridging January and February of the 1972-73 season, as part of a 14-0-2 stretch under head coach Emile Francis. The other time they won 10 in a row in their 98-year history came during December and January of the 1939-40 campaign, before they went on to win the Stanley Cup later that spring. 

The aforementioned quintet of top-six forwards has accounted for 25 of the 39 goals (64.1 percent) the Rangers have netted during the nine wins, for a team average of 4.3 per game. 

Still, the third line of Jonny Brodzinski (3-3-6) centering Kaapo Kakko (3-3-6) and rookie Will Cuylle (2-3-5) also has contributed eight goals during the winning streak. No. 1 defenseman Adam Fox also has averaged better than a point per game, with a goal and nine assists. 

All-Star goalie Igor Shesterkin also has rebounded well from a first-half slump, posting the past three wins and going 5-0 with a 2.01 goals-against average during the streak, with veteran backup Jonathan Quick backstopping the remaining four victories.