Rangers' power play clicked in both home wins over Hurricanes
Adam Fox #23 of the New York Rangers celebrates his first period goal against the Carolina Hurricanes during Game Four of the Second Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs with teammates Artemi Panarin #10 and Ryan Lindgren #55 at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday, May 24, 2022 in New York City. Credit: Jim McIsaac
GREENBURGH, N.Y. – Rangers coach Gerard Gallant is so focused on the moment at hand, that he said on Wednesday he couldn’t remember what his team’s power play looked like way back in Game 2 of the Blueshirts’ second-round playoff series against the Carolina Hurricanes.
He was reminded that in that game, the Rangers not only went 0-for-3 with the man advantage, but they surrendered a shorthanded goal by ex-Ranger Brendan Smith on the four-minute power play they had in the second period, on Brady Skjei’s high sticking penalty.
Since that game, though, the power play has turned things around. The Rangers scored a power-play goal in both Game 3 and 4 at Madison Square Garden, and were 2-for-6 in the two games. They will look to keep that unit clicking in Game 5 in Raleigh, N.C. on Thursday.
“At home here, we've been able to get set up and able to move the puck around,’’ defenseman Adam Fox said. “I think the biggest thing is, we haven't given them momentum, even if we don't score on the power play. I think we were doing that in that Game 2. Obviously, we let up a shorthanded goal. So I think once we get set up, we have a lot of skill to move (the puck) around … And that's what it's going to take to swing games and have a good power play.’’
“Our power play has been good all year,’’ Gallant said. “What do we finish in the league? Top five. It's been a good power play. We had some ruts, like every other team has, some different times where you don't like it… But overall, it's been the strong point of our team for sure.’’
The Rangers had the fourth-best power play in the regular season, scoring on 25.2 percent of their opportunities. In the playoffs, they have clicked at a rate of 26.7 percent (fourth-best).
Blue notes
Gallant said injured forward Barclay Goodrow, who has not played since blocking a shot in Game 1 of the first playoff series against the Penguins, has been skating. “It’s going in the right direction,’’ Gallant said … The NHL has not announced a start time for Game 6 of the Rangers-Hurricanes series Saturday, but it did announce Wednesday that a potential Game 6 between Edmonton and Calgary would start at 9:30 p.m., which would suggest the Rangers-Hurricanes would start at 7 p.m. If Edmonton-Calgary doesn’t have a Game 6, then the Rangers-Hurricanes may start later than 7 p.m.
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.
