Why It Was Not A Failure For The New York Rangers

May 16, 2015; New York, NY, USA; New York Rangers center

(28) celebrates after scoring the game-winning goal to defeat the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-1 in game one of the Eastern Conference Final of the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports

2. The Magic Number of One

Since last season’s Game Four of the Stanley Cup Final against the Los Angeles Kings, the Rangers set a NHL record of playing 15 consecutive one-goal games.

What’s the big deal, right?

Well, it seems unheard of nowadays. To play consistently with that amount of goal differential at the end of 60 minutes is telling. The Rangers were doing just enough to either win or keep it close enough to win.

Through the first two rounds, the team kept the games from getting out of hand, while handling the likes of today’s superstars: Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin, and Evgeni Malkin just to name a few.

However, the Rangers possessed the third ranked team in goals for during the regular season averaging 3.02 goals per game. Their first round and second opponents ranked lower in this department: Pittsburgh Penguins ranking 19th with 2.65 goals per game and the Washington Capitals ranking sixth with 2.89 goals per game.

The one-goal trend continued with the Tampa Bay Lightning after game Game One of the Eastern Conference Final, which drew criticism from ESPN’s NHL writer Pierre Lebrun.