The Rangers play their final home game for two weeks tonight against the Predators. Following the contest against Nashville, New York heads to the West Coast for five games. Road trips are known for team bonding, and given the handful of new faces on the squad, the long excursion out west should aid in that regard.
Wednesday’s practice lines were:
Kreider – Zibanejad – Kakko
Panarin – Chytil – Lafreniere
Cuylle – Trocheck – Wheeler
Vesey - Goodrow – Pitlick
Lindgren – Fox
Miller – Trouba
Gustafsson – Schneider
Shesterkin
Quick
Nick Bonino missed practice with a lower body injury. Coach Peter Laviolette tagged him as day to day with a lower-body injury, possibly from one of the three blocked shots he had against the Coyotes, so it’s possible we see Bonino tonight. I know some people have been down on him, but I thought Bonino had a decent game against Arizona, especially on the penalty kill in the second period. If he is sidelined, Jimmy Vesey, a scratch Monday, will slide back in as the fourth line left wing with Barclay Goodrow filling the center role.
Larry Brooks had a pair of interesting tidbits in his Post Sports+ column. The first was on the number of shots attempts and vast differential early on from the Gerald Gallant era. The second, which seems to be the current cause celebre on Twitter and in this column, is the constitution of the fourth line.
Shot attempts - in the past, we did rail on how the team seem to almost always be on the wrong side of the shot differential. This year, possibly driven by the 1-3-1 neutral zone system or the coaching philosophy, that has been flipped. Granted, it’s just three games, but based on prior history, this is a welcomed change.
In addition, while I know most of you are not fans of advanced metrics, but it’s hard not to be excited by what we have seen from the three lines offensively. Whole that hasn’t always resulted in scoring, save for the first game, the opportunities and chances are evident. While complaints exist as to the lack of speed shown by Blake Wheeler and people clamoring for Brennan Othmann already, based on the numbers below, I don’t think a chance is coming in the near term and given Wheeler’s overall track record and history, I think he gets a little more leash, especially if New York is playing well overall. If that changes on the West Coast, then I could see a move made next month.
Following Monday’s 2-1 victory over the Coyotesin a home opener where chances and open ice were difficult to come by, the Rangers ranked third in the NHL in shot-attempt percentage at 59.49, second in expected-goals-for percentage at 62.82 and first in the league in creating high-danger chances.
Of course, this represents a teeny sample size, but over the two years of Gerard Gallant’s tenure behind the bench, the Blueshirts ranked 22nd in shot-attempt percentage (48.45); 22nd in xGF% (48.11) and 16th in generating high-danger chances at five-on-five.
Artemi Panarin and Erik Gustafsson lead the Rangers with 15 shot attempts apiece at five-on-five, with Vincent Trocheck, Alexis Lafreniere and Jacob Trouba chipping in with 12 each.
The Panarin-Filip Chytil-Lafreniere unit has a 69.84 percent Corsi rating (a measure of shot attempt share at even strength) that leads the club’s top three lines, with the Will Cuylle-Trocheck-Wheeler trio in at 64.81 percent and the Chris Kreider-Mika Zibanejad-Kaapo Kakko triumvirate at 61.82 percent.
Trocheck’s line has an xGF of 73.37 percent with Zibanejad’s line at 68.40 percent and Chytil’s at 60.06 percent.
Fourth line concerns - I mentioned the concern raised about Wheeler above. Othmann might be an option down the road. The same could be said about the final trio. I actually thought Pitlick would bring some speed to the lineup when he was signed, but that has yet to fully be the case. We know Goodrow is not a speed merchant, same with Bonino, but they certainly fit the definition of a fourth liner for this team. Vesey would help in the speed aspect, the same with Othmann, but Bonino brings a defensive mindset, expertise in the face off circle and a penalty kill presence, so look for him to remain in the lineup.
If there are concerns, they would be that the veteran fourth line consisting of Barclay Goodrow, Nick Bonino and Tyler Pitlick doesn’t have the speed to keep up with younger fourth units around the league.
Jimmy Vesey would add some speed to that unit, but No. 26 is going to need to make an impact next time he gets in after serving as a healthy scratch twice.
If Brennan Othmann, who had an explosive opener while scoring twice for the AHL Wolf Pack, can keep it up, I envision the winger being in New York by Thanksgiving.
Forever Blueshirts posted a
few interesting stats. The first was on the number of shots allowed and taken and the differential, which mirrors a bit what Brooks wrote. We know how key the power play is and it is has played a difference in the 2-1 start. Last, was the performance in the face off dot, a major concern in years’ past. When Michael Peca was hired as an associate coach, the hope was that his expertise between the dots could be taught to the team. Hopefully the early benefits we are seeing in the face off circle carries forward.
As per the Rangers, in the early season the Blueshirts have allowed 24.3 shots per game, the second fewest in the NHL, while their 33.7 shots per game are eighth in the league.
Moreover, New York has recorded a power play goal in its first three games of a season for the 13th time in team history and the first time since the 2005-2006 season (9 GP).
Through three games, the Rangers rank tied for fifth in the NHL in faceoff percentage, with a 53.6 mark (94-for-167).
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