TARRYTOWN – The Rangers’ long journey through the Pacific northwest and freezing-cold Canada couldn’t have gone any better from a wins and losses standpoint.
They completed the first 5-0 road trip in franchise history and returned to New York as one of the NHL’s top early-season storylines. But success should not equal complacency, particularly in eyes of Peter Laviolette.
The Blueshirts’ head coach opened their first meeting at the MSG Training Center in nearly two weeks by highlighting an area where he feels there’s plenty of room for growth: Five-on-five offense.
“When something’s on your mind, I feel it’s best to just address it,” he explained following Wednesday’s practice. “Approach them, put it on the table – that way, at the very least, we’re thinking about it.”
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The positives for the 7-2 Rangers, of which there are many, are fairly obvious.
Their special teams have been outstanding, particularly a power play that ranked second in the NHL with a 34.4% conversion rate entering Wednesday’s games. Their goaltending remains a strength, with Igor Shesterkin and Jonathan Quick combining for a .924 save percentage through nine games. And their defense has shown stark improvement in Laviolette’s multi-dimensional system, with their 2.00 goals-against average and 26.2 shots against average both ranking second in the league.
“From a defensive standpoint, I do think that the guys have made a commitment to coming back and making it difficult to play through the neutral zone − and then even more to the point, in our end,” Laviolette said. “If you can do that, you can win a lot hockey games.”
And they have been.
But no team is a finished product, especially this early in the season. For the Rangers, the next step in their evolution as a Stanley Cup contender is establishing offensive consistency.
“Obviously, you want to score a little bit more five-on-five, but you can’t do that while sacrificing the defensive side of the puck,” center Vincent Trocheck said. “It’s a little give and take.”
Maintaining the airtight D they displayed throughout the trip, where the Rangers allowed only seven goals in five games, is a top priority. But Laviolette’s message is that one doesn’t have to come at the expense of the other.
“There’s been so many teams that have been good both ways,” he pointed out.
In pushing for more offense, the main pitfall Laviolette wants them to avoid is taking risks that lead to turnovers and odd-man rushes against. That’s been a strength in the early going, with the Rangers ranking second in the NHL (just 0.01 away from being first) with an average of 4.70 giveaways per game. That’s less than half of the 10 they averaged last season.
That’s helped improve their time of possession, with New York ranking in the 68th percentile for offensive-zone time at 42.1%, according to NHL EDGE.
“I know we’re in there,” Laviolette said. “But I also know that my eyes see we’re capable of creating more.”
Those possessions haven’t translated to enough scoring, with the Blueshirts failing to score a five-on-five goal in three of their last six games. The outlier was their 4-1 win in Seattle on Oct. 21, during which all four goals were produced at 5v5, but they’ve combined for only four total in their other six games dating back to Oct. 16.
There’s room for improvement in virtually all 5v5 categories. According to Natural Stat Trick, they rank 28th in goals per 60 minutes (1.68), 29th in shots on goal per 60 (26.38), 26th in expected goals per 60 (2.35) and are tied for 30th in high-danger scoring chances per 60 (8.93).
For Laviolette, much of it comes down to where the scoring chances are coming from. The Rangers sit in the bottom half of the league in shots on goal from high- and mid-danger locations, specifically the net front, slot and inside halves of each circle.
The emphasis is on increasing their presence in those areas, which can lead to both high-percentage looks on wrist shots and one-timers, as well as easy opportunities for greasy goals such as tips, rebounds and deflections.
“We’re just not getting to where we need to get to and delivering what we need to deliver,” Laviolette said. “It could be through anything – could be conversations, could be video, could be recognition, could be in practice – (but) you’re trying to make sure, without taking away from what’s been working, that we realize where we’re at and where we need to get to.”
It may seem like nitpicking in the midst of a five-game winning streak, but striving for better production is a sign of a team that understands reaching its goals will require digging deeper.
Five-on-five offense has been a recurring issue for multiple seasons now, with Laviolette making it a focal point as the Rangers prepare to host the reigning Metro Division champion Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday at 7 p.m.
“We continue to talk and push the (offensive) side of the game, which is the attack side of the game,” he said. “That’s kind of how I opened the meeting. When you see something, you can present it. You can show it. You can talk about things. You can present numbers, thoughts and whatever. From there, you need to buy in to change the mindset of what we’re doing on the flip side of that. That’s something that our group is talking about.”
NY Rangers (7-2) projected lineup: Game 10 vs. Carolina Hurricanes (6-4)
When: Thursday, Nov. 2 at 7 p.m.
Where: Madison Square Garden
TV/Radio: MSG Network/98.7 FM
Forwards
Top line ⊳ Chris Kreider (LW) ⋄ Mika Zibanejad (C) ⋄ Kaapo Kakko (RW)
Second line ⊳ Artemi Panarin (LW) ⋄ Filip Chytil (C) ⋄ Alexis Lafrenière (RW)
Third line ⊳ Will Cuylle (LW) ⋄ Vincent Trocheck (C) ⋄ Blake Wheeler (RW)
Fourth line ⊳ Barclay Goodrow (LW) ⋄ Nick Bonino (C) ⋄ Jimmy Vesey (RW)
Defensemen
Top pair ⊳ Ryan Lindgren (L) ⋄ Adam Fox (R)
Second pair ⊳ K’Andre Miller (L) ⋄ Jacob Trouba (R)
Third pair ⊳ Erik Gustafsson (L) ⋄ Braden Schneider (R)
Goalies
Starter ⊳ Igor Shesterkin
Backup ⊳ Jonathan Quick
Healthy scratches: D Zac Jones and F Tyler Pitlick
Vincent Z. Mercogliano is the New York Rangers beat reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Read more of his work at lohud.com/sports/rangers/ and follow him on Twitter @vzmercogliano.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Next step for red-hot NY Rangers is unlocking five-on-five offense
