Rangers get key power-play goal in win against Sabres: ‘Gotta stay with it’
Though they scored an important power-play goal in a 3-2 win against the Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday, the New York Rangers have had plenty of struggles on the man advantage this season. Coach Peter Laviolette acknowledged those issues prior to the Sabres game.
The Rangers are 12th in the NHL at 22.7 percent on the power play. That’s nine spots below last season, when the Rangers were third in the League (26.4 percent). And it’s their lowest rank since the 2020-21 season (14th, 20.7 percent).
They are 6-of-33 in 14 games since Nov . 14 — and three of those power-play goals were scored on Nov. 30 in a 4-3 win against the Montreal Canadiens.
“At the end of the day, they do get into the offensive zone, they do spend a lot of time there looking for opportunities. And I would say, like our 5-on-5 game, we’re finding it a little more difficult right now. We just got to stay with it,” Laviolette explained after the morning skate Wednesday.
The Rangers deployed the usual first unit Wednesday, with forwards Mika Zibanejad, Artemi Panarin, Vincent Trocheck and Chris Kreider joining defenseman Adam Fox. They did their thing 7:01 into the game, when Fox kept a Buffalo clearing attempt in at the blue line to start a scoring play where Zibanejad buried a seam pass from Panarin. It was only the second power-play goal for Zibanejad, who had 12 last season and 20 in 2022-23.
“There’s been some movement. We’ve had players out of the lineup. We’ve had other players on there. I wouldn’t say it was more effective or less effective. There is some history with that group. You try to balance those things,” Laviolette said about keeping PP1 intact.
Related: 3 Rangers takeaways from narrow win against slumping Sabres
Rangers’ overall issues mirror those on power play
Power-play success has been key for the Rangers for the past few years. In fact, elite special teams and goaltending have been keys to their fortunes for the past several seasons, helping them finish first overall in the NHL standings in 2023-24 and reach the Eastern Conference Final in two of the past three seasons.
Before ranking third in the NHL last season, the Rangers were seventh at 24.1 percent in 2022-23. The aforementioned five-man first unit has been together since Trocheck signed as a free agent before that 2022-23 season, so they’ve had the opportunity to develop their chemistry and become a tight-knit group over the years.
The difference in percentages might seem minor at first glance; but considering the Rangers regular-season success in past seasons when they are inside the top 10 as one of the best teams on the power play, their inconsistencies this season seem to be at the forefront of their overall struggles, especially during their current 3-8-0 stretch.
New York is 15-12-1, fourth in the Metropolitan Division, a significant decline from their 20-7-1 record at the same point last season when they topped the division, won the Presidents’ Trophy and reached the conference final
The Rangers have their work cut out for them when it comes to getting their season back on track. However, if they need an area to be fixed sooner than later, they must find out how to work through their power-play issues and make their special teams a positive difference maker once again.
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