Peter Laviolette’s decision was a risky one, especially considering entering Sunday the Rangers had only scored one power-play goal in their previous eight games.
When Mathieu Barzal was whistled for hooking, Laviolette directed Igor Shesterkin to the bench.
He knew the 4-on-3 setup could be a “tough power play” — and if the Rangers didn’t convert, they would have wasted their top skaters.
But with a two-man advantage, Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad both scored to win overtime, and they ended up winning 6-5 in overtime against the Islanders, scoring five points on the power play. He scored 3 points against 5.
“I thought our power play players really stepped up in the biggest moments, in the biggest situations, in the final minutes of the game,” Laviolette said. “The guys that got on the ice had to do their job. They had to fight and be a scratch with less than six minutes left and then less than two minutes left and close out the game, but they really did that.” I did it.”
The Rangers experimented with a little bit of everything to ignite that unit.
Because of the 0-for-17 drought, Laviolette added Blake Wheeler and Johnny Brodzinski to the first line and moved Panarin and Vincent Trocheck to the second group for one practice.
He relied on original combinations by Wednesday, but the next night Zibanejad helped end a scoreless stretch.
But Trocheck reiterated Sunday that he didn’t think the Rangers played poorly after the unit’s collapse.
They were doing the right thing.
Get the right look.
The goals on the power play didn’t continue.
Trocheck told the Post’s Molly Walker that the Rangers improved as they recovered and avoided Sunday’s “one-and-done” rush, which set up a power-play goal in the second period. He said it was helpful.
Zibanejad collected the rebound.
Puck rode his bike to Panarin.
There was a second shot.
And Trocheck redirected it past Sorokin.
“We’re the same group that, like I said, was No. 1 in the league over 40 games,” defenseman Adam Fox said.
Man-advantage units have always been a staple for the Rangers.
At the beginning of the year, they were one of the most productive units in the league.
Despite their recent struggles, these conversions have kept them in the fourth place group (26.6%).
But the lack of goals remained a concern, which turned the Rangers’ first power-play goal against the Islanders into a spark.
The second message suggests that perhaps this breakthrough was no fluke.
And by the time Zibanejad sent the puck flying from the bottom of the circle with less than 90 seconds left in regulation, the Blueshirts may have found enough concrete success to call it a turning point.
“We want to be timely, but you don’t always want to get a power play goal, the seventh point of a 7-1 game,” Fox said. “But when we’re down and we need some power-play goals, I think that’s what we’re most proud of.”
