x

Already member? Login first!

Comments / New

New York Rangers Stats: Individual Chances Update

At the last update, the New York Rangers were coming off their 7 game, Magellan-inspired road trip. Over that span, they were outchanced most every night, and the team sputtered along. Since then, shots on goal have still been an issue, as Rob updated us on Monday. However, the scoring chances have trended up, as we see here:

Opponent Totals EV PP 5v3 PP SH 5v3 SH
Maple Leafs 11 16 8 15 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
Senators 14 15 11 11 3 2 0 0 0 2 0 0
Sharks 19 12 14 9 5 0 0 0 0 3 0 0
Ducks 21 12 12 11 8 0 0 0 1 1 0 0
Canadiens 15 16 10 8 4 2 1 0 0 4 0 2
Jets 21 14 9 9 5 0 6 0 1 5 0 0
Senators 12 15 12 14 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
Hurricanes 20 10 16 8 4 0 0 0 0 2 0 0
Islanders 23 18 16 15 5 0 2 0 0 3 0 0
Update Total 156 128 108 100 37 4 9 0 2 22 0 2
Season Total 241 243 170 176 54 11 10 0 7 53 0 3

Aside from Ottawa, the Rangers have controlled the even strength scoring chances during each game of the winning streak, and many of the Senators chances that game came while the Rangers were protecting a lead in the 3rd period (hooray score effects!).  Speaking of score effects, with the Rangers trailing for under a minute during the entire streak, for them to come out ahead is an even greater positive.  The other key to the success lately has been to jump on teams early, which you can clearly see from the period breakdown:

Period Totals EV PP 5v3 PP SH 5v3 SH
1st 37 18 29 13 7 1 1 0 0 4 0 0
2nd 26 31 14 22 9 0 2 0 1 7 0 2
3rd 45 36 28 30 10 1 6 0 1 5 0 0

A whopping 69% of the even strength chances, and 67% overall in the first period is a good way to manufacture success, especially for a team built on the back of goaltending and defense.

After the jump, the individual breakdowns.

Even Strength Power Play (5v4 only)

Chance COG Goal Chance% Assists Plays C/60 P/60 Chance COG Goal Chance% Assists Plays C/60 P/60
RICHARDS 15 11 5 33.33% 10 25 3.44 5.73 6 3 1 16.67% 9 15 5.15 12.87
GABORIK 36 29 7 19.44% 9 45 8.63 10.78 18 13 1 5.56% 3 21 18.35 21.40
CALLAHAN 14 13 2 14.29% 10 24 3.54 6.07 3 3 2 66.67% 5 8 3.01 8.02
DUBINSKY 15 10 1 6.67% 5 20 3.89 5.18 4 2 0 0.00% 3 7 6.16 10.78
STEPAN 14 8 1 7.14% 22 36 3.72 9.56 8 6 2 25.00% 4 12 10.60 15.89
FEDOTENKO 9 8 0 0.00% 5 14 2.58 4.01 2 1 1 50.00% 1 3 9.13 13.69
BOYLE 9 6 1 11.11% 8 17 2.86 5.41 3 2 0 0.00% 0 3 12.54 12.54
ANISIMOV 13 8 1 7.69% 11 24 4.13 7.63 1 1 0 0.00% 1 2 3.73 7.45
PRUST 10 10 1 10.00% 4 14 3.45 4.84 1 1 0 0.00% 0 1 20.00 20.00
CHRISTENSEN 1 1 0 0.00% 2 3 0.68 2.04 0 0 0 0.00% 1 1 0.00 3.80
WOLSKI 4 3 0 0.00% 4 8 3.57 7.15 0 0 0 0.00% 1 1 0.00 9.45
RUPP 2 2 1 50.00% 0 2 2.83 2.83 0 0 0 0.00% 0 0 0.00 0.00
DEVEAUX 1 1 0 0.00% 0 1 1.53 1.53 0 0 0 0.00% 0 0 0.00 0.00
AVERY 4 3 2 50.00% 0 4 6.38 6.38 0 0 0 0.00% 0 0 0.00 0.00
NEWBURY 0 0 0 0.00% 0 0 0.00 0.00 0 0 0 0.00% 0 0 0.00 0.00
ZUCCARELLO 0 0 0 0.00% 0 0 0.00 0.00 0 0 0 0.00% 1 1 0.00 10.75
TOTALS 147 113 22 14.97% 90 237 11.38 18.35 46 32 7 15.22% 29 75 28.83 47.00

Chance COG Goal Chance% Assists Plays C/60 P/60 Chance COG Goal Chance% Assists Plays C/60 P/60
GIRARDI 2 2 1 50.00% 5 7 0.35 1.22 1 1 1 100.00% 3 4 1.65 6.61
MCDONAGH 9 7 3 33.33% 7 16 1.63 2.89 0 0 0 0 1 1 0.00 5.29
DELZOTTO 4 3 1 25.00% 5 9 0.92 2.06 1 0 0 0.00% 10 11 0.85 9.35
EMINGER 3 3 1 33.33% 2 5 0.93 1.55 0 0 0 0.00% 0 0 0.00 0.00
SAUER 4 3 0 0.00% 2 6 1.33 1.99 0 0 0 0.00% 0 0 0.00 0.00
ERIXON 0 0 0 0.00% 1 1 0.00 0.50 0 0 0 0.00% 0 0 0.00 0.00
WOYWITKA 1 1 1 100.00% 2 3 0.53 1.59 0 0 0 0.00% 0 0 0.00 0.00
BELL 0 0 0 0.00% 1 1 0.00 5.25 0 0 0 0.00% 0 0 0.00 0.00
TOTALS 23 19 7 30.43% 25 48 1.78 3.72 2 1 1 100.00% 14 16 2.5 21.3

*Players sorted by ES Ice Time. Tables are sortable by clicking the column headers.

In case there was any remaining doubt about where Marian Gaborik stood as a player, this should end it. Right now, he’s just on another level compared to the rest of the team, averaging more than 8.5 chances per 60. For comparison’s sake, keep in mind that over the last four seasons, NHL forwards average about 7.5 shots on goal total. Gaborik’s averaging 6.95 chances just counting what goes on net.

Beyond Gaborik, most of the guys are still down compared to last season’s totals, but there’s clear improvement from the play on the road trip. Key players such as Brad RIchards, Ryan Callahan, and Artem Anisimov are all generating more chances for themselves, while Derek Stepan continues to be the Gaborik of scoring chance setups.

One of the biggest differences between those first 7 games and the team now comes from the contributions of the defense. As a whole, they’ve doubled the amount of plays they’re contributing to while jumping in and converting at an excellent, if unsustainable rate. Ryan McDonagh and Michael Del Zotto are the obvious contributors, but the player that stands out most is Michael Sauer. Dan Girardi and McDonagh are getting all the publicity, but Sauer’s return has been a big stabilizing force. Universally considered a defense-first guy, there he is 2nd in chances and just behind MDZ for 3rd in plays made on the D.

This time around, I also included the power play numbers. To no surprise, Gaborik laps the field there as well. What this does show is really how the PP has functioned. The play funnels through Stepan, Richards, and Del Zotto, with the goal of feeding Gaborik early and often. The player not mentioned from unit one is Callahan. To date, he hasn’t contributed very much, generating fewer scoring chances for himself than he does at even strength. If the PP continues to be uninspiring, the captain may be a player to look at to switch, with the bigger body of Brian Boyle potentially a replacement.

Finally, we’ll touch on chance type again, with the focus on just the 5v5 play.

Chances COG Goals Chance%
Breakaways 4 3 1 25.00%
Even Man Rush/Transition 51 42 6 11.76%
Odd Man Rush 12 6 4 33.33%
Zone Entry Totals 67 51 11 16.42%
Defensive Zone Turnover 24 19 5 20.83%
Zone Pressure/Forecheck 69 53 13 18.84%
Faceoffs 10 9 0 0.00%
Zone Pressure Totals 103 81 18 17.48%

As I suspected may happen, the bigger sample, combined with the improved play, shows the focus of the Rangers under Tortorella is still generating offense from the forecheck.  What was a 54.5% edge to zone pressure has ballooned to 60.5%.  Expect that to continue if the Rangers continue to win games.

Any questions?  Fire away in the comments.

Talking Points