Since January 1st, the Rangers have started to look like a competent team again. With a 4-1-1 record, defeating the Devils, Bruins, and Golden Knights, the Rangers look like the team that started the year so strongly before seeing the wheels come off in November. However, the Rangers now look like a team that could play well together for a long time. They look solid and have a foundation to build on for the remainder of the year.
What inspired this turnaround? To understand it, we must examine the Rangers' issues during their skid. Defensively, they were awful. Of the three individual pairings to play at least 25 minutes from November 21st to January 1st, only 3 had an expected goals against per 60 (xGA/60) of less than three, and Adam Fox was on two of those pairings. Only one had an expected goal percentage (xGF%) of more than three; that was K'Andre Miller next to Fox.
Since January 1st, Will Borgen and K'Andre Miller have become the dominant pairing for the Rangers. An expected goals for per 60 (xGF/60) of 3.29, an xGA/60 of 2.38, and an xGF% of 57.74 have the Rangers pairing in extremely high regard. They've become the stable pairing the Rangers need. It's a good start, but it's far from the finished article, as the rest of the D core is still struggling.
However, a dominant pairing allows the Rangers to start transitioning the puck out of the zone. When you get the puck to the forwards, they're pretty good, and with a little bit of support, Jonathan Quick and Igor Shesterkin can shut games down. It's given the Rangers fresh air by allowing the team to pressure offensively. I mentioned the other two pairings struggle defensively, but Adam Fox alone can score goals, and it's letting the Rangers put other teams under pressure.
New York still needs defensive help. Ryan Lindgren isn't the answer next to Adam Fox anymore, and Urho Vaakanainen, besides Braden Schneider, isn't the key to success. New York needs a couple of changes on the back end to improve, but this team may be two very strong defensemen away from returning to cup contention. We've seen the bulk of this roster is still capable of competing at this highest level. As always, the stats for this come from NaturalStatTrick.