{"id":21236,"date":"2018-01-07T21:29:11","date_gmt":"2018-01-08T02:29:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=21236"},"modified":"2018-01-09T20:21:18","modified_gmt":"2018-01-10T01:21:18","slug":"new-york-rangers-room-for-improvement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2018\/01\/07\/new-york-rangers-room-for-improvement\/","title":{"rendered":"New York Rangers Room For Improvement"},"content":{"rendered":"

After a defeat, courtesy of newly formed franchise the Vegas Golden Knights,<\/a> the New York Rangers<\/a> has a vital break. With the season just over the halfway\u00a0mark, it’s a time for rest and reflection. With the Metropolitan wild-card playoff spot so competitive, both are vital to enhancing Rangers success. They have improved since their abysmal\u00a0start (currently 21-18-4), but the Rangers are on a dangerous road to disappointment if they do not address the obvious issues they still have.<\/p>\n

New York Rangers Room For Improvement<\/h1>\n

In what can only be described as a gruelling schedule for the next few weeks. All of the games are against tough teams, four of these, are on the road. There are many aspects the Rangers needs to reevaluate\u00a0during this time.<\/p>\n

Defence<\/h2>\n

The Rangers have had defensive issues for countless seasons, the inability to back up their own goalies\u00a0is criminal. On the Vegas game alone they left Ondrej Pavelec<\/a><\/strong> exposed on four, 2 on 1 rushes, Vegas scored their game-winning goal on one of these.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/lachieeet\/status\/950232178998128641<\/p>\n

Legendary goalie Henrik Lundqvist<\/a><\/strong> has bailed his defence out time and time again. In his\u00a0last\u00a0five games, he has saved a punishing 30 plus shots in each of them. This is partly caused by numerous turnovers in their own end. The Rangers have an expected goals against (xGA\/60) per sixty minutes\u00a0of 2.78, that makes them the worst in the league. To highlight this further, The San Jose Sharks, who the Rangers will be playing as part of their western road trip, has a xGA\/60 0f 2.4.<\/p>\n

Players like Nick Holden<\/a><\/strong> are key components to this worrying statistic. He is a prime example of poor defence as his Corsi For Percentage is only 46%. This highlights that at even strength the Rangers will be less likely to have the puck. This contributes to the teams disappointing CF% which is 46.32%, worst in the league bar the Minnesota Wild<\/a>. The Rangers will have to work on their passing and defensive awareness to reduce turnovers against such strong teams. Because of these defensive issues, it makes it even more difficult for the Rangers to then go on the offensive.<\/p>\n

Offensive Issues<\/h2>\n

If they cant get it passed the blue line, how are they expected to score? They have the potential with players such as Mika Zibanejad<\/strong><\/a>, Pavel Buchnevich<\/a><\/strong>, and Michael Grabner<\/a><\/strong> to name a few. They have all proved they can get the puck into the net however, they take too long to do so.<\/p>\n

Chaotic set up plays, and general low enthusiasm is common until the second period. So far this season, 40 of the Rangers goals have been in the third period. They need to work on their intensity early on to secure the win in regulation.<\/p>\n

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The Rangers have outscored opponents, 50-34, in game situations when trailing this season. The Blueshirts\u2019 plus-16 goal differential when trailing is tied for the best in the NHL in 2017-18.<\/p>\n

— NY Rangers PR (@NYR_PR) January 4, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n