Weekly Diagnosis: New York Rangers Games 11/15-11/22

Last week has passed seeing the New York Rangers go 1-2-1, dropping games and crucial early points to teams like the Maple Leafs and the Oilers. Young gun Anthony Duclair, who has 6 points in 12 career NHL games (+4 in that span), has been sitting out in favor of Jesper Fast, who has 0 points in 16 career NHL games (-7 in that span) these last couple games. Duclair has also been extremely more noticeable when he’s on the ice, as opposed to Fast, but AV chooses to play the young Swede instead. Here’s my breakdown for Rangers’ games in the week of 11/15-11/22:

1) 11/15: New York Rangers (7-6-3) @ Pittsburgh Penguins (11-3-1) 7:00 EST: After getting spanked 5-0 at Madison Square Garden, watch for the Penguins to be at the top of their game tonight. They were handed only their 3rd regulation loss of the season so far, and their eyes will be red and fuming for vengeance. Special teams will be a huge factor in the game, as Pittsburgh still possesses the best powerplay in the league by far (33.9%) as well as the 2nd best penalty kill (88.7%). It was a much different storyline on Tuesday, however, as the Rangers went 1-for-4 on the PP and successfully defended the Penguins’ 3 PP chances. Tuesday also marked the first time this season the Blueshirts tallied both a power play and a shorthanded goal in the same game. Expect the first 10 minutes to be all Penguins, and if the Rangers can finish the first period without being down a goal, they will win the game. 3-2 Rangers.

2) 11/17: Tampa Bay Lightning @ New York Rangers 7:00 EST: Monday night marks the return of a few names Ranger fans should be well accustomed to, such as ex-Captain Ryan Callahan, Brian Boyle, and Anton Stralman. Tampa’s PP is 7th in the league at 23.3%, and their PK is 4 tenths better than the Rangers at an even 80.0%, good for T-15th. The Bolts are also an extremely dangerous offensive team; they’ve scored more goals (61 as of the release of this article) than any other team in the league. Tyler Johnson has the same number of points as Steven Stamkos–wait, what? It’s true, they both have 18 points in 17 games. Not far behind are forwards Valtteri Filppula and Nikita Kucherov with 14 points in that same time span. Moral of the story is, the Rangers HAVE to be at the top of their defensive game, or else they’ll get slaughtered on the scoreboard. The Bolts certainly know how to put the puck in the net, and if the Rangers can exploit their defensive holes, they’ll come out with a win. But with their inconsistent play, I have to give the advantage to Tampa. 4-1 the final score.

3) 11/19: Philadelphia Flyers @ New York Rangers 8:00 EST: The Flyers visit Madison Square Garden for the first time since April, when the Rangers knocked them out in the first round of the playoffs. Philadelphia has added Michael Del Zotto to their lineup, which should be an interesting matchup to say the least. As much negativity as I (as well as many other Ranger fans) have thrown at him when he was a member of the Blueshirts, he seems to be playing pretty well for the Flyers. He’s a +1 with 8 points in 15 games, and he seems to have gotten his defensive game together as well. Jakub Voracek has been an absolute animal through 15 games, scoring an incredible 24 points, 4 more than Claude Giroux. To put into perspective how well he’s playing, only Sidney Crosby has more points (25) than him in the same time span. If the Rangers can contain the top line like they can, they shouldn’t have too much trouble winning the game. Keep in mind that Philly has a top-4 PP (25.0%), but their PK is struggling at 75.5%, 25th in the league. Staying out of the penalty kill while taking advantage of mistakes needs to be the 2 main things the Rangers have to focus on. If they do, a 5-3 win should be in order.

4) 11/21: New York Rangers @ Buffalo Sabres 7:00 EST: The Sabres are one of the worst teams in the NHL, so this shouldn’t be the hardest game for the Rangers, but being that it is the Rangers, they’ll probably make it harder than it needs to be for themselves. Buffalo’s leading scorer is Drew Stafford with just 10 points in 18 games, and top guns like Matt Moulson (1 goal, 5 points) and Brian Gionta (0 goals, 3 points) are struggling heavily to generate any kind of offense. The Sabres are the lowest scoring team in the NHL with 24 total goals, which is about 1.33 goals per game (18 games played), while being the most scored on team in the league, with 66 goals against. As long as the Rangers don’t underestimate their opponent, they should be fine. 6-0 Rangers if they play their cards right.