Although the New York Rangers’ penalty kill played admirably well against the Toronto Maple Leafs, the unit is still struggling for the year. What makes an effective group and what isn’t New York doing?
As a rebuilding team, the New York Rangers have a laundry list of components that need improvement. Whether it be more scoring from the forwards, stability on the blue line, one less pass on the power play or stability on the penalty kill, New York has its fair share of issues thus far into the season.
To borrow an expression from football, a team needs to win at least two out of three phases during the course of the game to prevail. In the sport with the oblong ball, special teams are often overlooked. In the NHL, special teams are the focal point of a team that is either a special group or outright dreadful.
A once great staple of Rangers’ success, the penalty kill, is one of the worst units in the entire league. According to Fox Sports, New York ranks the seventh worst in the league with a 77.5 percent kill percentage. It’s not exactly a surprise that lacks a well-rounded roster cannot kill off penalties.
This is a departure from how New York achieved the highest of highs this decade. The year the Rangers made the Stanley Cup, it was in part through special teams play. During that season, New York’s kill was successful 85.34 percent of the time. That unit featured Brian Boyle, Dominic Moore, Carl Hagelin and Mats Zuccarello.
Although the forwards were good, it was the balance on the back end that allowed the unit to excel. At that point, New York featured arguably the league’s best defensive unit 1-6 and it shined bright on the penalty kill. At one point during the playoff run, the penalty kill successfully killed off 36 consecutive chances, an NHL postseason record.
The issues
Right now, the lack of defensive talent is probably the reason that New York only kills off penalties at a 77.8 percent clip. For a penalty kill to be successful, it needs a few different features. First, it needs defensemen capable of quickly transitioning from gathering a loose puck to dumping it out of the zone.
Since New York doesn’t have any expert puck handlers on the blue line, that quick transition is lost upon them. With Marc Staal still killing penalties into his early 30s, the team has a beat up defenseman that struggles to move in the corners and transition. Although he was once a great penalty killer, he’s a shadow of his former self.
While first-year head coach David Quinn was willing to experiment with different players on the penalty kill, the same group is getting the same crack. Most notably, Kevin Hayes excels in his role and is arguably the Rangers’ best short-handed player. The Boston native has two short-handed goals on the season and arguably should have more.
If the Boston College product were not so patient on breakaways, he’d likely have found the back of the net at least one more time.
In addition to Hayes, center Mika Zibanejad also has two short-handed goals on the season. If New York’s penalty kill is going to climb out from the bottom half of the league, it’s going to need to find complementary pieces to join Hayes and Zibanejad.
What it needs
The obvious fix is for the Rangers to have four quality defenseman fall out of the sky and into the lineup. It doesn’t take all world talent to succeed on the penalty kill, in fact, it can be a saving grace for limited depth players on certain teams. An elite fourth line is a luxury that New York was not afforded this year.
Right now, the penalty kill is littered with top end players being forced into additional minutes. Both Hayes and Zibanejad have produced at a nice level and are something to work with. Going forward, the penalty kill will need to feature younger players like Lias Andersson or Brett Howden. It’s worth the experimenting with younger players based on what the current situation is.
Why continue struggling with the same players who fail to succeed in pressure filled situations. At the very least bringing younger players into the penalty kill can set the team up for the future and give it an idea of what it has. The real test will be if Quinn can find defensemen capable of holding things down on the back end.
The high pressure concept in which the team tries to force a turnover through pressure on the puck carrier is a draining scheme. If those applying pressure cannot obtain the puck, it typically leaves an open player somewhere on the ice. In certain instances this year, that open player has scored a goal that ultimately won the game for the Rangers’ opponent.
The penalty kill isn’t a priority on a rebuilding team, however, it’s still a component that needs attention. It’s a working in progress at pretty much every level of the Rangers as an organization. If New York is going to start winning games again, it needs to win two phases on a nightly basis. Special teams is one that can be won with the right mix of talent and effort.