The New York Rangers have continued to stay in and win hockey games despite an offensive unit starting to stall. Is it all that big of a concern?
Hot Start Starting to Fizzle Out
At one point, the Rangers were amongst the league lead in goals scored and average goals per game, despite playing a handful of games less than everybody else. October was great for them, quickly getting the opening month jitters out of the way. But, as the final game of October and the first game of November have shown, the offensive production is becoming nonexistent.
It all started in that game against the Washington Capitals, in which they lost 5-3 and were outshot 46-19. That game has bled into last night's matchup with the Ottawa Senators in which they won, 2-1 in an ugly fashion. Bailed out by goaltender Igor Shesterkin again, they let up 41 shots and only put 18 shots up on the other end of the ice.
This is not sustainable, no matter how great Shesterkin is. Something has to give, and it has to happen fast. One bright spot has been the consistent play of Alexis Lafreniere, who made the most of his limited powerplay time. He potted a goal with the man advantage against Ottawa and added an assist. That gives him five goals and five assists on the year in 10 games.
A noticeable lapse has been from the play of Mika Zibanejad. He has hit a career low in minutes on the ice, and he has made it clear that it is affecting his ability to make an impact during the game. He will eventually break this cold streak, and that first line consisting of Zibanejad, Chris Kreider, and Reilly Smith will be firing on all cylinders. That trio has seriously hurt the Rangers in their last two contests.
To say that the Rangers lack of offense in the last two games, and lack of defense as well, is a concern is an understatement. Not all is lost, but it is teetering toward absolute panic.