New York Rangers’ penalty kill is making a difference

After ranking 26th in the league on the penalty kill last season, the New York Rangers are back to being atop the league in the category, and it is helping them win games.

Last year, the New York Rangers were a slow team, and it showed on the penalty kill. After years of ranking near the top of the league shorthanded, the team flopped completely last year, ranking 26th in the NHL.

In fact, the Rangers’ penalty kill last year had the lowest success rate it has had in over twenty years, and the only unit that came even close in that span was the 2000-2001 team’s that finished the season with a 78.5% success rate.

This year, things have been much different.

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The main problem with the Rangers penalty kill last season was how stagnant all the skaters were. They would all collapse in front of the net which does a few things.

Firstly, when you have a bunch of players in front of the net, it screens the goaltender. The other thing it did was allow an easy shot from the point to turn into a problem, because it could turn into a blocked shot that bounces to an area of the ice where the defenders are out of position, which leads to the goalie being hung out to dry, or worse, to a deflection on net which allows for a goal right then and there.

With a change in penalty kill personnel that allows the Rangers to be much quicker to the puck and more aggressive in pursuit of the skater with the puck, the team has gotten back to the success that they have had over the past decade with the man disadvantage. Playing this aggressive style forces the other team to make errant passes that lead to turnovers.

Prior to the Rangers’ 5-0 massacre of the New Jersey Devils on Sunday night, the team ranked 6th in the league on the kill with an 84.9% success rate.

Another thing that makes this unit dangerous is the amount of offensive potential on it. The Rangers 5 most used forwards on the kill so far this season have been Derek Stepan, Michael Grabner, Jesper Fast, J.T. Miller and Kevin Hayes. The team has already scored four short-handed goals this year, which is already one more than last year in 52 less games.

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The penalty kill has been exceptional over the team’s last five games, as they have only yielded 1 goal on 14 attempts. The combination of a strong penalty kill coupled with not taking many penalties–the Rangers are the least penalized team in the NHL–can go a long way for the team in the long run.

The Rangers have given up 57 goals against 5 on 5 so far this season, which ranks 14th in the league. This middle-of-the-pack performance could be detrimental to the team going forward, but for now, at the very least, they have two things going for them. The first thing is they lead the league in even strength goals (78), which allows them to bring their goals for/against 5 on 5 ratio to 1.37, which is 5th best in the league. The second thing is that they can trust the penalty kill to not crumble like it did time after time in 2015-2016.

Next: Lundqvist is still the King of the Rangers' crease

If the Rangers can keep being aggressive when they are down a man, they should be able to have a successful year. Of all the things the team has changed since last season, this may be the one that has been the most critical to their success.