TAMPA, Fla. — After 14 seasons of being a have-not in points, the Rangers have turned around in this key area.
The team is in first place in the Metropolitan Division and will play the Penguins on a Saturday matinee before heading to Pittsburgh for a date with the Islanders at the Garden on Sunday afternoon.
Artemi Panarin’s 88 points, top-level goaltending from Igor Shesterkin and Jonathan Quick, and a sophisticated special teams unit are big factors in their success, but the Rangers deserve some of the credit for the faceoff comeback. Saving.
The Blueshirts enter Saturday ranked fifth in the NHL with a faceoff winning percentage of 52.8 percent.
It may not seem like a good reason to have a parade, but it’s better than where it’s been in the past.
Since the 2009-10 season, the Blueshirts have never ranked higher than 14th in the league in any season, with a winning percentage of less than 50 percent in each season, with the exception of 2012-13, when they posted a statistically improbable 1,410 wins. It’s below. and a loss of 1,410.
“Everyone wants to start with the puck, and the faceoff is where it starts,” Rangers manager Peter Laviolette said. “It’s like anything. If you have the ball or the puck and it’s in your favor, good things can happen.”
Or, as Mika Zibanejad said, “It starts with the puck. It starts with the puck. It starts with the puck.” we don’t have to chase it. ”
The key is Vincent Trocheck, who ranks fifth among NHL centers with at least 500 draws with a winning percentage of 59.3, according to Statmuse.
In the Rangers’ 3-1 win over the Devils on Monday, Trocheck won 12 of 16 ties (75%).
The next night in Raleigh, North Carolina, they won just 8 of 19 (42 percent), but they had their biggest win — a 1-0 victory over the second-place Hurricanes. .
“Possession is a big part of the game, especially [when your team has] Top player,” Trocheck said. “Playing with bread” [Panarin]Starting with the puck is huge because you want to get the puck in his hands as much as possible. ”
For context, the Rangers were 27-29 in Thursday’s 6-3 loss to the Lightning, giving them a winning percentage of 48.2.
Even if he were able to hit those numbers every night over 82 games, it would still be better than he did in any of the four seasons between 2018-19 and 2021-22.
The Rangers are aware of past shortcomings and sought to address them when assembling Laviolette’s new coaching staff. Michael Peca, whom Laviolette described as an “elite faceoff guy” during his 14-year playing career, was tasked with leading the charge.
“He was great…well spoken.” [us] Even in games. If he finds something, he can insist on helping,” Zibanejad said of Peka. “[He strikes] perfect balance [between] I’m there to support you and try to help you figure it out.
“I think you have to find your own way. I don’t think so. [everyone] We will face off in the same way. Some people have strengths where others have weaknesses. You just try to put players in situations where they can be successful. ”
With this statistic, the Rangers have quite a few forwards in the black.
Barclay Goodrow has a 54.8 and Johnny Brodzinski has a 50.5. Zibanejad is just below the break-even point at 49.4.
This season, these three players plus Trocheck account for the majority of the scoring, but Blake Wheeler (61.3 points), Kaapo Kakko (54.5 points), Jimmy Vesey (50.0 points), etc. Other teams have also done well in small sample sizes.
“Trochek is at the forefront because of his numbers, but other players are getting in there as well and we’re trying to work with everyone,” Laviolette said. “We’re trying to work with the wingers who are going to jump in there and help us out and think about the aftermath of the actual confrontation and what we can do from there.”
The faceoff winner is not decided until a team has possession of the puck, and a lot can happen between the two centers fighting for the falling disc and one team finally getting possession of the puck. .
“We have a good centreman, but obviously our wingers and [defensemen] They also contributed and got the puck 50-50,” Zibanejad said. “I feel like there aren’t too many outright wins anyway. We’re doing a good job as a team in the battle for centerman.”
The Rangers have tried innovative ways to fix the faceoff mess. Among them is inviting retired linesman Pierre Racicot to training camp ahead of the 2021-22 season, teaching centers the rules at the dot and giving advice on positioning, stance and what referees expect. It includes giving. player.
Racicot’s guidance also helped the Blueshirts jump from an NHL-worst 44.5 percent in David Quinn’s final season to 48.1 percent in Gerard Gallant’s first season.
“I thought it was very helpful in terms of understanding the linemen, where the linemen are, where the puck is going to fall, what the linemen are trying to kick.” [a center from the faceoff]” Zibanejad said. “Just the way you talk to the linemen. That’s something I still incorporate into my game and think about when I go into the faceoff circle.”
