Artemi Panarin, Vincent Trocheck and Alexis Lafreniere were the most productive 5-on-5 line in the NHL last season.
According to Natural Stat Trick, they were not only the most utilized unit while recording 863:10 of total ice time, but also led all lines with at least 500 minutes with 54 goals, and He had the second-best expected goals average. 60 of 3.13.
This trio wasn't trained until the 11th game of the 2023-24 season after Filip Sitil went down, but they haven't been as explosive this season.
According to Natural Stat Trick, they are tied in 38 of 46 games so far this season, scoring 27 goals and 21 goals on the ice for the Rangers (482-13).
The games were disjointed, either because Panarin missed two games in mid-December or because head coach Peter Laviolette needed to make a change amid his team's slump.
Production is where units are severely lacking, especially lately.
Panarin has just one 5-on-5 goal in his past 11 games, and he also scored an empty-netter during 6-on-5 play.
That's on top of just two 5-on-5 scores in the past 16 years and four 5-on-5 scores in the past 22 years.
Trocheck, on the other hand, has qualified just two of his last 14 contests and three of his last 21.
And since signing a seven-year contract extension on Oct. 25, Lafreniere has eight goals and 11 assists in 39 games with a minus-13 rating.
He ended a five-game no-goal streak Sunday night at 5-on-5, but has only scored three goals in the past 17 games and four in the past 25 games.
This is clearly a line that needs the puck to be successful, but the Rangers have struggled mightily at times in possession.
The Rangers begin a four-game homestand against the Senators on Tuesday.
The season-best 8-game winning streak (5 wins, 0 losses, 3 draws) is the longest streak since 10 consecutive games from January 27th to February 27th. 24th, 2024.
They have earned points in nine of their past 10 games (7-1-2) and have won four of their past six games.
During this period, Rangers had 14 unique players score one goal and 20 players score one point, with seven of them scoring five or more points. His power play success rate is also tied for 5th at 33.3.
Six of the Rangers' last seven games have been decided by one goal, and five of the past seven games have gone to overtime. Dating back to last season, the 33 wins decided by a one-goal difference are the most in the NHL.
