It has been a while since the New York Rangers have played a meaningful hockey game. With that in mind, we will break down the important stats from “this” season as the Blueshirts prepare to face the Carolina Hurricanes in the play-in round of the NHL Playoffs. With help from our friends at Natural Stat Trick, Evolving Hockey, and the NHL.com, we will take a shallow dive into the matchup.
The New York Rangers opponents are also healthy
While the time off has allowed Chris Krieder and others to regain full health, the same could be said for the Hurricanes. This is especially true, especially of their defensive group. Thanks to the time off, Carolina has an injured Dougie Hamilton returning after fracturing his left fibula. This would have been an injury that would’ve ordinarily sidelined him for throughout the playoffs. Hamilton and Jaccob Slavin may be one of the best defensive tandems in the NHL this year. This pairing should get at least 50 percent of the ice time against Artemi Panarin‘s line.
Regardless, it still will not be an easy task for Carolina. Panarin has been outstanding this season, scoring 32 goals and adding 63 assists for a total of 95 points. With Panarin on the ice, the Rangers were +2.1 better than their opponents for every 60 minutes played, which is the highest number in the league. The biggest issue for the Rangers is going to be the disparity between the top six and the bottom six, which is displayed in the only analytical graph we will make you endure:
Does Carolina have an advantage on Special Teams?
Carolina is one of three teams to finish top five in both rate scoring on the power play and rate scoring defense on the penalty kill. The other two were Edmonton and Boston. Much improved for their sub-par performances in these areas during the 2018-19 season.
The Rangers have been up and down on their special teams this year, especially the power play. Many times the Blueshirts power play looks like a two-minute passing drill that they put on during the game. Many times they will not even get a shot off, and a lot of time is spent skating down the other end of the ice and getting the puck that has just been cleared by the opposing team.
The Rangers will also need to improve their penalty kill, as it ranks 23rd, tied with the Los Angeles Kings at 77.4 percent. Part of their Carolina’s top five scoring rate on the power play is due to the fact that they have had six players score on the power play this season.
It is not like the Rangers have been poor all year, just inconsistent. They will need efforts like the game on Dec 27, 2019, in which the special teams sparked the Rangers to a victory over the Hurricanes.
Goaltending
The Rangers have outstanding depth at goaltender. Head coach David Quinn will have the task of determining which goalie has returned from the pause ready to head into the playoffs.
Carolina may have an easier task to pick their goalie, as James Reimer put up the better numbers of the season, stopping 91.4 percent of shots in 25 games played. His counterpart, Peter Mrazek, only stopped 90.5 percent of shots in 40 games played. Carolina also has the haunting memory of Mrazek’s performance last year against the Washington Capitals in the Eastern Conference First Round, when he posted a .899 save percentage.
Despite the Rangers dominance in the regular season, this matchup has the potential to be one of the more closely contested matchups of the play-in round.