TAKEAWAYS FROM THE RANGERS RECENT WEST-COST SLATE.
Saturday’s disheartening 4-3 Rangers loss to the Edmonton Oilers at Madison Square Garden culminated a 3-3-1 seven-game swing against Western Conference teams, which included a four-game road trip.
After dropping a 2-1 decision to the Nashville Predators in the music city on November 12th, the Blueshirts returned home the next evening and defeated the hapless Arizona Coyotes 4-1 before going 2-1-1 on the road against the Seattle Kraken, a 3-2 overtime loss, San Jose Sharks, a 2-1 win, Los Angeles Kings, a 5-3 victory, and the lowly Anaheim Ducks, a 3-2 loss, prior to their homecoming clash with Edmonton. While New York held their own against the differentiating styles Western hockey teams bring to the table, they return to conference play feeling they could’ve faired better and left attainable points behind. Here are some takeaways from the stretch, and you readers can feel free to add to it down below in the comments section.
A spike in 5V5 PRODUCTION:
For all the talk about how the team is overly reliant on the power play, a lack of even-strength scoring wasn’t the problem this time. Just three of the 19 goals scored during this stretch were on the man- advantage, as the Rangers received offensive production from fourth-liners such as Julien Gauthier, Barclay Goodrow, Braiden Schneider, and Ryan Carpenter, who combined for seven of the 16 even-ice tallies.
The Rangers continuously generated scoring chances at 5v5, with 90% (203 of 226) of their shots on goal during the last seven games coming at 5v5, which is around what the previous season’s total was 91%. Furthermore, a higher share of the offense has been coming at even ice (76%) compared to play; currently, an increase from last year (72%).
The marker currently leads the Boston Bruins(71%), Tampa Bay Lightning(71%), Edmonton Oilers(69%), and Colorado Avalanche(65%) in that category, proving progress on the matter.
3RD PERIOD LETDOWNS:
It’s no longer a secret following their latest debacle that the Rangers struggle to put teams away in the last 20 minutes, which showed throughout their most recent stretch. Spare the valiant effort in Anaheim and the games against the Coyotes and Kings; there’s your common denominator for the teams’ mediocre play over the last couple of weeks.
Try as they might in Nashville, the Blueshirts couldn’t capitalize on a double minor late in the game with the extra man on from the goaltender being pulled and lost 2-1.
A few days later, Seattle broke the 1-1 tie with the last stanza’s first strike, putting New York on their heels for the rest of the evening, a contest they would even but lose 3-2 in overtime. Regarding supporting their goaltender, the defense failed to comply, nearly wasting a herculean effort by Igor Shesterkin in San Jose, not to mention costing him a shutout in the 2-1 win.
Last but not least, there’s the 3-0 blown lead against Edmonton, a loss that won’t be let go so quickly by the Blueshirts faithful. To sum it all up, the Rangers have conceded 27 third-period goals this season, with 11 having come in the past nine games.
SHAKY GOALTENDING:
A good goaltending tandem is paramount to any team’s success, and the Rangers are no exception. Luckily, they’ve had generational talents over the last decade in Henrik Lundqvist and Igor Shesterkin, but you can’t say the same for the ones behind them. Sure, former heirs Cam Talbot Anti Raanta and now Alexander Georgiev has since gone on to be starters on other teams, but that doesn’t make amends for the fact they struggled in their roles when on broadway.
Being a backup goaltender is no fun, so Rangers fans admired veteran Jaroslav Halak for signing here in the summer, knowing he would serve as the spot starter behind the reigning Vezina-trophy winner. The move was seen as part of a trend of declining yet still serviceable goaltenders like Semyon Varlamov of the Islanders and Vitek Vanecek in New Jersey taking lesser roles with their respective clubs to give their younger NO1 starters a cushion on nights where they need a night off, or are battling through an injury.
Examples of having not one but two reliable goaltenders and it paying dividends are littered throughout recent NHL history. In 2016 and 2017, the Penguins were backstopped to two straight cups using Marc Andre- Fleury and Matt Murray, and last postseason, the Avalanche won the Stanley Cup using while using Darcey Kuempuer and Pavel Francoz to stockpile wins throughout their run.
In the case of the Rangers, while Shesterkin has been satisfactory despite not being his super-human self from last season, Halak has yet to record a win in six tries thus far as a Blueshirt and sports a -3.3 goals saves above expected for the season. It was no different in the 3-2 loss at Anaheim, where he allowed two straight goals considered “Low percentage shots.”
A share of the reason for the Bruins, Devils, Islanders, Golden Knights, Male Leafs, and Hurricanes’ hot starts is that they’ve found ways to steal games with their #2 goalies, and if the Rangers want to get on that hot streak we’ve been waiting for, they need Halak to start rising to the occasion.
The Rangers obviously have more significant problems than the ones listed above as the reasons for their 10-8-4 start, but you can’t entirely exempt the goaltending department from the equation.