New York Rangers: Special Teams prowess and other takeaways

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NEW YORK, NY – NOVEMBER 06: Chris Kreider #20 and Tony DeAngelo #77 of the New York Rangers celebrate after defeating the Detroit Red Wings 5-1 at Madison Square Garden on November 6, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Jared Silber/NHLI via Getty Images) /

2. Special Teams Come Up Tops

During our preview of this matchup we pointed out that winning the Special Teams battle would be key to beating Detroit.

And so it proved.

The Red Wings entered the contest with the worst penalty kill in the entire NHL (68.6), and they were not much better on the power play either with the 26th ranked man advantage unit (13.2).

You have to take advantage of those weaknesses and the Rangers certainly did that to perfection last night.

They took the lead at 4:25 in the second period with their first power play of the night, Tony DeAngelo arriving at the backdoor to pot home his fifth goal of the year following a smart pass from Brendan Lemieux.

Detroit’s awful penalty kill continued to stink in the second period too with Adam Fox‘s wrister from the point bouncing off Ryan Strome and into the net.

The Rangers were not done there when it came to their prowess on special teams, either. With the Red Wings on the power play in the third period, Greg McKegg got the puck in his own zone, charged up the ice, wristed a shot off Jimmy Howard before following up his own rebound for his first goal as a New York Ranger.

It was also the Blueshirts’ third shorthanded goal this season, which is ranked third in the NHL in that category.

The Rangers also only allowed five shorthanded shots on two power plays and their ability to come up with the goods on special teams played a vital role in this win.

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