New York Rangers’ Regulation Prowess Will Help Cup Chances
The New York Rangers have been one of the best teams in the league in winning games in regulation or overtime. They haven’t relied heavily on the shootout or overtime losses to get to where they are in the standings.
It’s no secret that the New York Rangers are one of the best teams in the NHL right now. They currently sit fifth league wide in points and are all but certain to make this spring’s NHL playoffs.
The playoffs will be especially tough for the Rangers because they play in the Metropolitan Division. The leagues three best teams all play in the division and the Rangers align perfectly to meet at least one of them if they wish to make the Stanley Cup Finals.
With that being said, the Rangers aren’t a lock to get eliminated. There are a couple of aspects of their game that put them ahead of the competition.
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Few Overtime Losses
The Rangers have something that a lot of teams don’t have: the ability to win games in a playoff format.
What that means is they haven’t relied on the shootout or overtime losses to get where they are in the standings. They are tied for four overtime losses with the Calgary Flames. The only team with less overtime losses is the Colorado Avalanche, and they have lost a grand total of 54 games this year.
For example, the Pittsburgh Penguins are seven points ahead of the New York Rangers at 103 points. However, they have as many regulation or overtime wins as the Rangers. The Penguins are ahead of the Rangers because they have 11 losses in overtime to the Rangers four.
That strategy will work in the regular season. The goal is to come away with points every night that you play. But points don’t matter in the playoffs; all that matters is wins.
What’s interesting about the Rangers’ four overtime losses is that three of them came in the shootout. Come playoff time you don’t need to be good in the shootout because there is no shootout.
Regular season overtime vs. playoff overtime is very different, but the Rangers have done a great job finding ways to win that coincide with ways that are possible in the playoffs.
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Third Period Beasts
The New York Rangers have been one of the best third period teams in the league this year. The ability to close games is crucial in winning a Stanley Cup.
Michael Grabner is currently the leading scorer for the Rangers. He has 27 goals through this season. What many people don’t know is that 16 of those goals have came in the third period. That ties him for first in that stat with Nikita Kucherov of the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Holding onto leads has been another specialty for the Rangers. They have won 88% of their games when leading after two periods; they are very tough to come back against. The NHL Playoffs are certainly much more manageable if you can turn games into just two period matchups.
The Rangers have also been great at coming back in the third period. They have five come from behind wins in the third period this year. They win just over 1 out of every 5 games in which they are trailing in the third.
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Numbers Don’t Tell All
With the Rangers the standings just don’t tell the full story. They are fourth in the metro, but leading or in second place in any other division.
Their points have come in a very natural, playoff friendly way that puts them a few steps ahead of the competition.
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The road to the Stanley Cup is by no means an easy path. However the Rangers have played well all year and look ready to make another deep run.