Three Keys to Playoff Success for the New York Rangers
Photo Credit: Danny Wild / USA TODAY Sports
While the New York Rangers aren’t set to start their first-round matchup against the Washington Capitals until Sunday, Apr. 21, there is still a lot of speculation around this team. For an “Original Six” franchise, the Rangers last cup came in 1994, as this June will mark the 30th anniversary of that historic run. That is not a good look for the team, especially since they have made it back to the Stanley Cup Final only once since that time. Many thought that last year would be “the year”, but the Rangers elite team, on paper, lost to the New Jersey Devils in the very first round.
Despite the Rangers ugly playoff history, the team has exceeded all expectations this season. For a team that was considered maybe the third best in their division this past offseason, New York finished the year as the number one team in the NHL; winning the President’s Trophy.
The Rangers seem to be on the verge of a long playoff run, but there are a few factors that need to show up in order to make their Stanley Cup hopes come to fruition.
#1. Even Strength Scoring
New York has an extremely high powered offense. With names like Artemi Panarin, Mika Zibanejad, Chris Kreider, and Vincent Trocheck, it’s hard to see how this team can have trouble scoring goals. Everyone knows that the Rangers are excellent on the power play, ranking third in the league, but many don’t know that this team has problems scoring at even strength.
The bad news for the Rangers is if they had trouble scoring even strength goals in the regular season, it is just going to get worse in the playoffs. The postseason is, to put it lightly, very physical. The referees aren’t going to call some of the penalties that they might call during the regular season; making scoring much more difficult.
If the Rangers want to to fix that issue, it all start with two guys; Zibanejad and Kreider. These two have played on the same line for the entirety of the season, and they continue to underperform at even strength. With Zibanejad making $68 million to be this teams’ number one center, he only scored 12 even strength goals this season, a quantity that is not cutting it. The main thing to point out is, together, Kreider and Zibanejad scored 65 goals this season, so everyone knows that they are capable of scoring; it’s just a matter of actually doing it in the playoffs.
The problem isn’t just these two guys, but the team as a whole. All four forward lines have to be able to score at even strength, which is a necessity in some of these tighter playoff games. Artemi Panarin, Vincent Trocheck, and Alexis Lafreniere proved that they can do it, but now it’s up to the rest of the team.
#2. Continuous Production on the Power Play and Penalty Kill
Building off the last point, the Rangers have been excellent on both the power play and penalty kill. In fact, they are ranked top three in the NHL on both special teams units. The team has had problems scoring at even strength, but they certainly make up for it in other ways.
Two big names on the power play are surprisingly Zibanejad and Kreider. They have their own issues playing on the same line together, but when they connect on the power play, it’s almost automatic. Although these two have been the victims of a lot of backlash by the fans this season, nobody can say that they don’t contribute more than enough to a great man advantage unit.
If the Rangers can’t figure out their even strength problems, then the good news is that they have the power play to fall back on. Their great penalty kill is also a big factor in their potential playoff success, because a lot of these “top tier playoff teams” have very good power play units. Unlike most other teams, aside from the Carolina Hurricanes, New York has the skill to stop every single team’s man advantage.
The Rangers have played excellent hockey on both special teams units during the regular season, and that has to carry into the playoffs as well; assuming that they’ll face the same even strength scoring problems. If this team can pair five on five goals with a power play of this magnitude, they should have no problem winning playoff series.
#3. Igor Shesterkin
Everyone understands how good Shesterkin is. Just two seasons removed from winning the Vezina Trophy, Shesterkin is back to elite level goaltending. However, that wasn’t always the case during this year’s NHL season.
Photo Credit: The Canadian Press
In the month of January, Shesterkin was under a .900 save percentage; an awful number for a goalie of his caliber. As it normally goes, fans were very worried about his play during that time, and even considered him to be the backup to Jonathan Quick. Shesterkin quickly changed the narrative after that, and went on to finish the regular season in dazzling fashion. Since the second half of February, he has been, without a shadow of a doubt, one of the best goaltenders in the National Hockey League.
In order for the Rangers to succeed in certain games, Shesterkin has to steal wins away from other teams. He’s done that many times for this team during his career in New York, and it has to happen yet again.
New York’s defense can get very shaky at times, so it is beyond important to have a guy between the pipes that can bail a team out whenever. Although Shesterkin had problems doing that at the beginning of the year, he proved that he can step up to the challenge in the back half of the season.
This statement will prove to be true during the playoffs: The New York Rangers will go as far as Igor Shesterkin is willing to take them.
The Rangers control their own destiny in the playoffs, and it is up to the team to decide if they are ready to compete at the highest level. If all of these things happen come playoff time, the Rangers will be well on their way to hanging another banner inside of Madison Square Garden.