Rangers getting more involved in low-scoring games
Rangers head coach Gerard Gallant looks on during a game against the Islanders at UBS Arena on Nov. 24, 2021. Credit: Jim McIsaac
GREENBURGH, N.Y. – In the three games they’ve played since returning from the NHL All-Star break, the Rangers have scored five goals. Relatively speaking, it’s not a lot.
However, they’ve allowed only four goals.
The end result was a 2-0-1 record, with a shootout win, a shootout loss, and Sunday’s tight, 2-1 regulation road win over the Ottawa Senators. And as they continue to roll toward securing their first playoff berth in five years, the Rangers are not at all bothered by winning games in low-scoring fashion.
"I think as we go down the stretch, it's only going to get tighter,’’ fourth-line forward Kevin Rooney said Tuesday as the Rangers returned to practice after Monday’s day off. "It's going to be a dogfight coming down the stretch, and none of the games are going to be easy. And we’ve got to get comfortable playing in these one-goal games, whether you're down one, or up one. We’ve got to feel confident. And I feel like we're starting to do that a little bit more here in the second half.’’
Overall, the Rangers are 32-13-5 through 50 games, good for 69 points, and third place in the Metropolitan Division with 32 games remaining. They’ve struggled to score goals – their 151 through Tuesday were good for 16th in the 32-team league. But the brilliant goaltending of Igor Shesterkin (league-best 2.01 goals-against average and .939 save percentage) and a commitment to playing more responsible defense has kept their goals-against to 127, which is the third-fewest in the league.
"We were giving up a lot of chances early in the year… way too many,’’ coach Gerard Gallant said. "And now, I think we're seeing some results come from… not giving up as many chances; not giving them any ‘Grade A’ chances. And we're getting better. Guys are competing and playing hard, and getting better in the ‘D’ zone.’’
Still, while Gallant said he’s quite comfortable having his team win 2-1, or 3-2, as opposed to playing run-and-gun 4-3 and 5-4 games, he wouldn’t mind it if his team manufactured a few more goals in five-on-five play. Through Tuesday they’d managed 90 goals at five-on-five, tied with the Philadelphia Flyers for 23rd in the league.
So Gallant tinkered with his forward lines at Tuesday’s practice, dropping Barclay Goodrow, who had been playing with Artemi Panarin and Ryan Strome, down to the fourth line, with Rooney and Ryan Reaves. Dryden Hunt, who had most recently been playing on the third line, moved back up to play with Panarin and Strome, and Greg McKegg, who had been on the fourth line, moved up to the third line, with Filip Chytil and Julien Gauthier. The top line, of Chris Kreider, Mika Zibanejad and Alexis Lafreniere, remained intact.
Gallant said he was just looking for a little more "balance’’ in his four lines.
"That's what we came up with today,’’ he said. "I like the look of them, actually.’’
He cautioned, though, that the lines are fluid.
"It might change tomorrow morning,’’ he said. "We sit in the coaches’ room too long and look at our board. But it's a work in progress. And with Kaapo [Kakko] being out a little bit here, you move things around.’’
Jones sent down. The Rangers assigned rookie D Zac Jones to AHL Hartford.
Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
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