The 2013-14 NYR: From Average To Contender

Anthony Scultore Updated: Apr 7, 2014

Ranger fans may be celebrating late into June this season (Getty)

In anti-climatic fashion the NY Rangers can punch a ticket to the “big dance” with a NJ Devils loss of any kind. Of course it would have been great had they did it in style against the Senators but it didn’t work out.

The dreaded first game back from a Western road trip reared its ugly head and the Blueshirts were flat coming out of the gate. Positives were there as they settled down and made a comeback. Unfortunately, they couldn’t complete it all the way to get at least one point.

Still the NYR have been playing great hockey and will be a dark horse in this year’s playoffs. Here’s some great stats from Mike Kelly of NHL:

The @NYRangers ranked 16th in save % during first half of the season (.909)…..they are 1st in the second half (.932)

— Mike Kelly (@MikeKellyNHL) April 7, 2014

and…

The @NYRangers ranked 26th in goals/game (2.27) in the first half of the season….they are 5th in 2nd half (3.03)

— Mike Kelly (@MikeKellyNHL) April 7, 2014

Impressive! It gets better.

The Rangers were a mess from October through December with a record of 20-19-2. They looked dazed and confused for many of those 41 games. Their record was a reflection of their 93 goals for (2.26 per game) and 108 goals against (2.63). Then it all clicked.

In the 38 games since January 1st, 2014 the Blueshirts have a record of 23-12-3 and have become a contender. NY has scored 115 goals (3.02 per game) and only allowed 79 (2.07 per game). Those are huge improvements and make NY a team favorites like Boston and Pittsburgh would soon avoid.

If Chris Kreider and Ryan McDonagh can make their returns by the start of the playoffs, this team can pose a legit threat in the Eastern Conference. Even if Kreider is unable to do so in the first round, the Blueshirts have enough to contend with anyone else who they may encounter.

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