![]() Getting healthy will help, but they need to figure things out before the playoffs arrive.ģ. The Devils are still winning games, but it’s been a long time since they’ve been at their best. The meteoric rise of the Devils was predictable early on in the season thanks to their early season dominance on the shot clock. Five of those teams are the league’s very worst and two others have next to no shot at making the playoffs. ![]() 1 there are eight teams with an expected goals percentage below 48 percent. They’re the only team that ranks top five in both.Ģ. The Rangers on the other hand are second to Carolina in creating chances off the forecheck and are a top-five team off the rush. ![]() Carolina lacks that dynamic game-breaking offense that’s sometimes needed in a tight game, while New Jersey’s rush-oriented attack may not translate as well in a playoff atmosphere. Each team operates at the extreme, making them a bit easier to game-plan for. The Devils are the league’s best team at creating chances off the rush but aren’t as strong off the cycle. One reason to like them to make the conference finals over Carolina or New Jersey is that they have a very balanced attack.Īccording to data tracked by Corey Sznajder, the Hurricanes are the league’s best team at creating in-zone offense but are one of the league’s worst off the rush. The Metropolitan Division is a gauntlet at the top, especially now with the Rangers making a big-time add in Tarasenko. Watch out for the Rangers, they’re coming in hot.ġ. Once that explodes, they might be unstoppable with the right combination of elite goaltending and strong five-on-five play. The Rangers’ power play is too good to be this mediocre - and that’s before they added a power play gem in Tarasenko. If the Rangers converted on shots at the rate they have been over the previous three years (15.1 percent, fifth in the league), they’d have 12 more goals - exactly in line with their expected goal total. It has ranked sixth, 12th and seventh over the last three seasons. Their 11.1 percent shooting percentage is fourth last in the league with the man advantage. New York ranks first or second in all of those categories and with the personnel available, the Rangers should be scoring a lot more. That’s despite firing nine more shots-per-60, 18 more attempts-per-60, and two more expected goals-per-60. Last year the Rangers scored 9.4 goals-per-60 and that has dropped to 7.5 goals-per-60 this season. New York’s power play was a legitimate wagon last season and there’s reason to believe this year’s version is even better - the pucks just aren’t going in. I wouldn’t want to face him in a seven-game series.Īs for the power play, that’s the real reason to be frightened by what the Rangers can be when they’re firing on all cylinders. He’s a bonafide top-five goalie at worst and it’s fair to expect him to climb up the goalie ranks going forward. In net, there’s been nothing wrong with the way Shesterkin has performed this season, but he can still be better. ![]() Regression was expected for both - there’s a reason those paths weren’t viewed as sustainable - just not to this degree. This year they’ve regressed in both avenues with Igor Shesterkin ranking ninth in goals saved above expected and the team’s power play ranking 17th. It may not have been the most sustainable avenue to success, but it was enough to have it. ![]() The Rangers built so much of their success last season on those two tenets. But what makes the team truly scary is that they’re still missing what made them so dominant last season: league-best goaltending and an elite power play. The way the Rangers have found wins this year has been much more sustainable compared to last season. Tarasenko, who feels like a match made in heaven on this team, should further help with that if he can regain last year’s form. Last year the Rangers were 15th in goals rate. That’s not a problem this season as the Rangers have brought their expected goals percentage up by nearly three percentage points - and have seen their actual goals rate follow. They had the talent to overcome a 47.7 percent expected goals rate, but even that only pushed them to 51.6 percent of the goals at five-on-five. Last year the big issue was that the Rangers didn’t control the run of play. ![]()
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