Special teams could give the New York Rangers a boost in showdown with LA Kings

The New York Rangers are in Los Angeles Tuesday, March 25th to take on the Kings in a game that could be pivotal in the race for the last wild card place in the Eastern Conference. The two teams couldn't be on more different trajectories, with the Kings finding their stride this season and currently sitting fifth in the Western Conference, while the Rangers have disappointed and are currently sat 10th in the East.

With the Blueshirts trailing the last wild card place by one point and facing off against a team that dismantled them on Dec. 14 by the score of 5-1, Rangers fans may not feel hopeful, but there may be a reason for Rangers fans to believe going into Tuesday's matchup.

There aren't many teams that have been worse on the power play this season than the New York Rangers, but the Los Angeles Kings are one of them. Currently, the Rangers have just the 25th best power play in the NHL, scoring about 18.3 percent of the time. The LA Kings, however, are ranked 28th in the lague, scoring just 15.7 percent of the time. The Kings are one of the only opponents the Rangers have the edge over when it comes to the man advantage battle, and the Blueshirts could benefit greatly from a penalty-heavy evening of hockey in LA.

This trend carries over to the penalty kill as well. Despite the rough season, the Blueshirts still find themselves ranked sixth in the league for penalty kill, while the Kings are close behind in eighth.

While these are admittedly fine margines being dealt with, hockey games are often decided by special teams. It's rare for the Rangers to go into a matchup with the edge in both penalty killing and power play efficiency, but that's exactly the case Tuesday.

Regardless of how disappointing their season has been to date, the Blueshirts still find themselves alive in a last-second playoff race, and a win against the Kings propelled by the power play and penalty killing units would help build on the momentum started in the Rangers' 5-3 win over Vancouver on Saturday.