Why Rangers power play could be on verge of breakout next 2 games against Ducks, Sharks
Special teams were unquestionably the difference when the New York Rangers lost 3-1 to the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday night to begin a three-game road trip. While there were plenty of reasons for the frustrating defeat in the heat of a playoff race, the ones that stand out most were a power play that was 0-for-3 and a penalty kill which surrendered two goals against.
The PK has struggled of late but, by and large, been a Rangers strength this season. They lead the NHL with 14 short-handed goals and are eighth in the League on the PK (81.9 percent).
New York’s power play is another story. After years of being among the best units in the League, the Rangers are ranked 26th on the power play (18.0 percent) this season. That unit is bottoming out right now, 0-for-13 in their past seven games and 1-for-26 since March 3.
Coach Peter Laviolette went back to the tried and true top power-play unit Tuesday to mixed results. J.T. Miller shifted off PP1, and the Rangers turned to Adam Fox, Artemi Panarin, Mika Zibanejad, Chris Kreider and Vincent Trocheck.
That group failed miserably on New York’s first power play, when Andrei Kuzmenko was sent off for tripping at 12:47 of the first period in a scoreless game. The Rangers were denied zone entry time and again and didn’t manage a shot on goal.
Their second power play with under two minutes to play in the second period was a prime chance to tie the game after giving up a pair of power-play goals earlier in the period to drop into a 2-1 hole. Instead Adam Fox committed a tripping penalty at 19:11 — against L.A.’s impressive young star Quinton Byfield, who drew all three Rangers penalties in the game — and that was that.
Trocheck had fed Fox a blind pass that Byfield was ready to intercept, spin, and go off for a shorthanded breakaway on unless Fox took him down. While it’s an ugly, deflating play, it’s one of those bang-bang instances that if he hadn’t, could have removed more momentum than eliminating the breakaway itself.
Fortunately for the Rangers, they did a solid job killing off Fox’s penalty once the 4-on-4 ended early in the third period and remained down a goal. And not only did the Rangers kill it off, but drew a penalty not long after when Kings winger Adrian Kempe took a hooking minor at 4:25 of the third period. This is where the Rangers showed signs of life with the man-advantage for the first time in a long time.
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Final Rangers power play against Kings provides glimmer of hope in games to come
It’s a huge advantage the Rangers own to have a top face-off man like Trocheck on the power play. He’s currently fifth in the League at 59 percent, and he did his thing winning draws on this power play, giving the Rangers the chance to set up in the Kings zone.
The Rangers moved it around the perimeter without hesitation, ending with a pass into the slot for Trocheck open in front. His shot just missed and carried behind the net then into the corner, where the battle took way too long for a team up a man, and down a goal, to retrieve.
Nonetheless, they eventually won the battle and Trocheck got the puck back to Fox before moving to his bumper position for a quick touch and go play. Fox walked the blue line to the middle of the ice where he fired a shot through that was tipped by Trocheck in the slot, creating a rebound. Trocheck got another crack at it before he and Kreider engage in a battle for the loose puck. Kings goaltender Darcy Kuemper was able to cover for a whistle.
Once again, Trocheck won the face-off to Kuemper’s right before it’s moved behind the net by Trocheck to Kreider. After a couple of touch and go plays, Kreider found himself with the puck just below the goal line to Kuemper’s left with a clear lane to the net, or even a backdoor play to Zibanejad we’ve seen so often the past couple of seasons. Without hesitation he slings it through the seam instead to Panarin at the vacant point where they work the puck around the perimeter before Kings captain and penalty-kill stud Anze Kopitar was able to take it away from Fox for a clear.
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Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin zipped a pass up the ice immediately to Panarin in the neutral zone, and the star winger enters the Kings zone up the middle for a shot that’s blocked by stalwart defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov. While it is sad in itself that this stretch pass play by Igor has become the Rangers most effective transition play, especially on the power play, it’s certainly effective, trying to catch tired penalty killers in a change.
Rangers defenseman Zac Jones hits the ice to finish the power play with a great streak up the ice with only 20 seconds remaining on it. He’s able to gain speed behind the Ranger net before splitting most of the Kings team up the middle of the ice and then going in on a one-on-one. Making a highly skilled move flicking the puck to space past the defender before running out of real estate to get a good shot off, the puck hit the side of the net and popped into the slot, where Jonny Brodzinski off the bench fans on a good scoring chance.
Though they didn’t score, the Rangers ended this power play with three shots on goal in its full two minutes. That’s something that took the Rangers 20 minutes to accomplish for a majority of the first period and into the second.
Little things in those two minutes easily could have resulted in a goal or at least more momentum. Kreider taking that puck to the net, using Trocheck in the bumper position more, and maybe less passing on the perimeter.
But overall this was a power play to build on heading into Anaheim when the Rangers visit the Ducks on Friday. The Ducks are 29th in the NHL on the PK (72.7 percent). The San Jose Sharks, whom the Rangers visit Saturday, are 26th (74.8 percent).
Can anyone say “breakout?”
“I thought we were moving the puck really well, especially on that last one there,” Trocheck said postgame. “We’ve been talking about it as, when we go on the ice, we just need to make sure that we build momentum for our team. Whether we score or not. I think a power play like that last one is one I think we can say we gained some momentum but power play/ penalty kill decided the game today so we’d like to produce more”.
If they were able to execute against one of the League’s best defenses while leaving chances on the table, this is something that can be easily corrected. No better time to gain some confidence than by playing two of the weaker teams in the NHL, who both struggle on the penalty kill.
While a quick start should be an emphasis as always, reviving a once potent power play should also be a focus for the Rangers. The opportunity to go on a run is there, even with very little runway left. Getting the power play going may be the best chance the Rangers have left.
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