As for the Rangers, they're still number one in the metro, but probably nowhere near number one in your heart these days.
1. If the combination of 3 goals on 83 shots strikes a chord in your memory, it represents Rick Nash's stat line in the 2015 playoffs, where the Big 61's 3.6 shooting percentage was the lowest in NHL postseason history. He was a forward. 80 shots on net.
The situation wasn't all that urgent, and the outcome wasn't all that dire, but nine years later, Alexis Lafrenière entered Tuesday's game in San Jose with three goals on 83 shots in his previous 29 games. He finished the overtime game tied 3-2 with three goals. He has taken 84 shots in his last 30 contests.
This isn't an attempt to turn Lafreniere into a scapegoat for the Rangers' 3-5-2, 5-7-2, 11-11-2 record to be worse than mediocre. But when the team has had next to no production from the bottom six since Filip Sitil was sidelined on November 2nd, the top six will have to take advantage of the opportunity.
But even as he generated offensive power, logging the third-most 5-on-5 minutes on the club behind linemates Artemi Panarin and Vincent Trocheck, Lafreniere's finishing touch disappeared. Additionally, these 84 shots were completed on 153 attempts, 30 were blocked, and the remaining 39 missed the target completely.
Lafreniere (11-16-27) is one of the few players on the 29-15-3 club that has exceeded expectations, starting the weekend at home against Vegas on Friday and at Ottawa on Saturday. , we'll be heading into the weekend with bated breath. It comes before a much-needed bye-period/All-Star break. The remaining members of this exclusive group are Panarin, Trocheck, Will Quill, Jonathan Quick, and Erik Gustafsson.
But Lafreniere missed the target last Saturday with 1:24 left in the third period of a one-point game, just as if he had been intercepted by Jonathan Quick 10 years ago by LA goaltender David Rittich. It was like Nash. His 9.2 percent for the season is significantly lower than the winger's career 15.1 percent for the season.
Some of this may be due to bad luck as the sample size was somewhat small. However, Rangers need a presumed goalscorer to capitalize on their chances. Hockey people often say they get worried when opportunities disappear. But I always get worried when a player can't score a goal.
2. If Cityl is cleared to return to active duty — barring any setbacks, the second week of February seems a reasonable target date — unless leadership selects a restrictive 23-man roster, general manager Chris Drury will be forced to make personnel decisions immediately. cap space.
It appears either Johnny Brodzinski or Tyler Pitlick will be exempt from this conference call, assuming they are healthy. Brodzinski has added a key element of speed to the center over the past two games after being moved from the wing by head coach Peter Laviolette, but even with Sitil's return, Brodzinski will remain at center. The chances of it staying are very low.
In fact, either Barclay Goodrow or Nick Bonino will likely be the fourth-line center, with Brodzinski likely returning to the wing or the Wolfpack. But here's the thing: Brodzinski will likely be a top-six player in Chicago. Another club could pick him off the waiver wire. Even if Johnny Blueshirt becomes a regular scratch, the Blueshirts may not want to take the risk.
Pitlick, meanwhile, was a healthy scratch in six of seven games after missing four games with a lower-body injury. The risk of Pitlick being selected on waivers is low, but if that happens, the next player on the wing would likely be Anton Blayde or Riley Nash.
Another option that would undoubtedly be anathema to Drury, Laviolette and the staff would be to put Nick Bonino on waivers. Bonino was on the line with Barclay Goodrow and Jimmy Vesey in three of the four games on the road, and he scored eight goals and scored 20 points, giving him a scoring average of 28.57. That's the sixth-worst mark in the NHL among forwards who played at least 400 minutes at 5-on-5. Bonino's expected goal share of 38.08 percent was the fourth-worst in the league in 400 minutes of qualifying.
3. The problems with relying on the production of a power play unit as proven as the Rangers' have been exposed in this recent period, with the team's strong unit playing in three of the past seven games and three of the past 14 games. He was away from the seat for seven games. After only 1 of the previous 12 and 7 of the previous 33 were blank.
The Blueshirts are 1-4-2 in their last seven games blanked on the man advantage. Five-on-five matters.
Four. The Blueshirts called up Jake Lecishin from the Wolfpack, suggesting something was wrong with at least one of their forwards. Leshishyn played 6 minutes, 28 seconds against the Rangers in St. Louis on Jan. 11, and played well in the next game at Washington, where he was last on the roster.
