As of November 12th, the Rangers surprisingly are tied with the Washington Capitals for the best points per game percentage of any team in the league. After fifteen games, both the Capitals and Rangers have earned a possible 21 of 30 points, or 70 percent of the points on offer.
Their 9-3-3 start to the season compares to 7-7-1 from a year ago, and is the best start they’ve had point-wise since 2008-09 when they started 10-4-1. You have to go all the way back to 1989-90 to find a Rangers team that had lost three or fewer games in regulation through fifteen.
Another positive statistic is their start on home ice, where they’ve gone 5-1-1 to begin the year after a delayed home opener. The 11 points in 7 games good enough for the fifth best win percentage at home, though they have played one game fewer at MSG than the Oilers and Capitals have at their respective home arenas.
The .786 point percentage at MSG is a dramatic improvement over last season, where the Blueshirts were just 2-3-1 through their first seven home games, and finished 20-17-4 on the year, better than just five teams, and the worst of any playoff team.
A big part of the turnaround has been the Rangers goaltending and defense, which has let in 11 fewer goals – 32 vs. 43 from a season ago – and an offense that has actually scored two more goals than last season – 43 vs 41.
Leading the way has been the young defensive corps which has contributed 9 goals, fifth best of any team in the league per the NY Post behind
Canucks – 13 goals in 17 games Blue Jackets – 11 goals in 16 games Red Wings – 11 goals in 15 games Capitals – 10 goals in 15 games
The Rangers penalty kill is ranked 6th in the leauge with a 88.3 kill rate, and is fourth at home at 90.5. Not bad considering the team is shorthanded on average, four times a game, which is the 11th most. Interestingly enough, 9 of the first 15 games have been against teams who give up more power plays than the Rangers.
On the Power Play there’s still some work to do. The Blueshirts are just 22nd in the league, with a 10.3 conversion rate, but are more respectable 11th and 17.3 at home. With six of the last seven games having been played at MSG, it’s fair to say the Rangers are improving in this aspect of the game.
The current six game win streak is one game better than last year’s high of five games, and one less than the seven games the Rangers won after losing the season opener to Pittsburgh in2009-10. Two more wins, and the Rangers can match their franchise record eight game win streak from 1974-75.
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