The New York Rangers completed a successful road trip, winning their third straight game, 3-2 in overtime against Seattle on Saturday. After dropping the first of four road contests, the three victories upped the team’s mark to 6-5-2 on the season. Defense was on display by the Blueshirts, holding the Kraken to just 13 shots in the victory. New York returns home to face Carolina on Tuesday.
Game recap:
A few thoughts:
1) Defense, defense and more defense
The Rangers have fully bought into coach Mike Sullivan’s and associate coach Dan Quinn’s focus on defense. New York is first in the league with a 2.38 goals against average (GAA). Evidencing this is no fluke and not a result of Igor Shesterkin and/or Jonathan Quick standing on their heads, the below graph showing expected GAA evidences that the expected is slightly below the actual. This shows solid defense, which hopefully will be sustainable.
2) Team finishing
Per the graph below, New York is 10 goals below expected scoring. We have discussed this a bit, as a good part of that is due to the lack of finishers. Even if that is the case, 10 goals below expected just 12 games into the season is fairly stark. A mild regression towards the mean likely would mean a win or two more than the current six on the record. Hopefully, the return of Vincent Trocheck, possibly this week, makes a difference here.
3) Home cooking?
New York plays three of their next four at home. Normally, this would be viewed as a positive. This season, not the season. The Rangers are 6-1-1 on the road but have yet to notch a victory at MSG, sitting 0-4-1 to date. Allowing home cooking to be a benefit will be a major key. No rhyme or reason exists for the home struggles compared to the road success.
The schedule is: Carolina at home Tuesday, at Detroit on Thursday, home for Isles and Matthew Schaefer on Saturday, and Nashville next Monday.
4) Jaroslav Chmelar was recalled Sunday from the Hartford Wolf Pack, with Brennan Othmann assigned to the Hartford. Othmann did not impress enough while he was here, though he didn’t get much of a chance. He made a material defensive mistake in the one game he played and then was a press box denizen the remainder of his stint in New York. I get sending a lesson, but the only way a player can fully learn is to play and avoid the same mistake. Sullivan is looking to win games, but development is also critical, which has been an issue with this team for several years.
Chmelar, a fifth-round pick, 144 overall in 2021, fits well with Sullivan’s north-south game as he brings a physical aspect to his game and has improved defensively. He has played at Hartford but with one caveat. Chmelar was skating on the Wolf Pack’s top line, which won’t be his spot if he does play. He would be a bottom-six player, so we once again could have a slight or large disconnect between minor league and parent club usage. Calling up to be depth in the press box makes sense, though better for Othmann to play rather than sit.
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