The New York Rangers have made the postseason, but how do they compare to playoff squads of the recent past.
Though it is not a certainty, it appears that a concept once deemed appropriate by medical professionals, the 24-team NHL postseason, is being planned. For the New York Rangers, getting past the Carolina Hurricanes in the qualifying round could mean their first Stanley Cup Playoff appearance since the 2016-2017 season.
With an aura of excitement building around the young stars of the New York Rangers, this resurgent group has played their way into the conversation as a potential darkhorse team come puck drop. Despite not taking the prototypical route to contention, the Blueshirts are headed to the “playoffs”, and interestingly enough, they are not far off from other Rangers teams of the past.
When discussing the playoffs and New York, almost all fans turn to their recent memory and remember the Cup run of 2014, which ended in heartbreak at the hands of the Los Angeles Kings. But how do the 2019-2020 Rangers stack up against arguably the best team to don the red, white, and blue since 1994?
A trip to the Finals
Captained by Ryan McDonagh, the 2013-2014 Blueshirts were extraordinarily difficult to play against. Unlike their modern-day counterparts who have allowed a whopping 3.14 goals against per game, the Stanley Cup runner-ups placed fourth in the league, allowing just 2.32 goals per tilt.
Looking at these two clubs, the contrast is very clear. As dominant as the McDonagh led squad was in the defensive end, they struggled to put the puck in the net, amassing just 2.61 goals per game. This current Rangers group has scored at a torrid pace, totaling 3.33 tallies a game.
Another interesting tidbit is the age disparity between the two rosters. This year’s Blueshirts roster has an average age of 25.3 as of February 1st, as opposed to the 2013-2014 Rangers, whose average age was 27.4.
Going with the offensive and defensive trends, the Rangers this season had a power-play which was efficient 22.9% of the time and a penalty kill that was successful on 77.4% of the opposition’s man advantages. The sly veterans in 2014 only scored on 18.2% of their power-plays, while racking up kills on 85.3% of their penalties.
The most notable difference between the two sides was the team save percentage which was .921 six-years ago, but just .908 this season.