Defense scoring a big reason for the Rangers revival

The New York Rangers’ turnabout in the last 16 games has been dramatic.  For some, it was because of Jacob Trouba‘s histrionics in the awful loss to the Blackhawks.  For others, it’s Igor Shesterkin’s return to his Vezina Trophy form of last season.  Some attribute it to Coach Gerard Gallant’s shakeup of the forward lines.  To others, it was a simple course correction with a very good team shaking off a playoff hangover.  Then again, when a team is hitting goalposts at a record pace, they will lose games that they could have won.

But there is one area that hasn’t gotten as much attention and it is one very big reason why the Blueshirts have turned their season around.  It’s the offensive contributions from the defense.  When Jacob Trouba assisted on Jimmy Vesey’s first-period goal against the Devils, it was noted as the 100th point from the defense this season, second-best in the NHL.  It has not always been that way.

Consider this.  Over the first 26 games of the season, the Rangers went 11-10-5 and were at a low point after losing 5-2 to the cellar-dwelling Blackhawks at Madison Square Garden. In those 26 games, Adam Fox led the defense, scoring six goals and adding 21 assists for 27 points. Fox was having a Norris Trophy-worthy start, but he was getting no help.

In the same 26 games, here’s what the other blueliners contributed to the scoresheet:

• Lindgren:  0 goals, 8 assists, 8 points
• Miller: 0 goals, 8 assists, 8 points
• Trouba:   0 goals, 6 assists, 6 points
• Schneider:  2 goals, 3 assists, 5 points
• Zac Jones/Libor Hajek: 1 goal, 2 assists, 3 points

Yup, a total of three goals and 27 assists for 30 points, almost the same number of points as Adam Fox had tallied himself.  While Fox was scoring at 1.03 points per game (PPG) pace, his SIX fellow defensemen were scoring a 1.2 PPG pace.

The turnaround

Since that debacle against Chicago, the Rangers have gone 11-2-2 and can claim to be a contender for the top spot in the Metropolitan Division.  How has the defense done in that time?

Adam Fox has continued his stellar play though not at the same pace as in the first 26 games with one goal and 12 assists for 13 points.  But he has had help.

• K’Andre Miller: 3 goals, 9 assists, 12 points
• Jacob Trouba:  3 goals, 5 assists, 8 points
• Braden Schneider: 3 goals, 2 assists, 5 points
• Ryan Lindgren:  0 goals, 5 assists, 5 points
• Ben Harpur:  0 goals, 2 assists, 2 points

That’s a total of nine goals and 32 points for the five other blueliners That’s a pace of two points per game.

The two-points-per-game pace is double what Fox has been doing, scoring at a .87 PPG pace.

Looking at the entire defense corps, including Fox, Libor Hajek, and Zac Jones, they scored nine goals and 57 points in their first 26 games, 2.19 points per game.

Since then, including Fox and Ben Harpur, they have had 10 goals and 45 points in 15 games, three points per game.

It’s no coincidence

We can’t give the newfound offensive prowess of the defense full credit for the team’s revival, but the fact is that under Gerard Gallant, the Rangers’ offense is best when the defense jumps in.  We’ve come to expect that from Adam Fox, but K’Andre Miller and Braden Schneider have given the Rangers’ offense another dimension with contributions from all three defense pairs.

The fact that the Blueshirts are getting offensive contributions from all three defense duos makes them especially tough to defend again.  Just as the new forward lines have given the offense a new, deeper look, so has the defense.  Now, if Jacob Trouba could get his booming slap shot on the net more often…