Rangers By The Numbers Game Companion: Game #55 - Rangers @ Islanders
A statistical look at the 4th matchup between New York rivals.
| Time | Monday, 7:00 PM EST | TV | NHL-N |
| Season Series | 0-3 | Last Meeting | 4-1 NYI |
| The Enemy | Lighthouse Hockey | Scoring Leaders | R. Nash 35-20-55 |
Rangers | CATEGORY | Islanders |
| 33-16-5 | SEASON RECORD | 37-18-1 |
| 71 (3rd Metro) | Points | 75 (1st Metro) |
| 1.31 (7th NHL) | Standing Points Per Game | 1.34 (5th NHL) |
| Won 3 | Streak | Won 4 |
| 2.60 (5th) | 5v5 GF/60 | 2.66 (3rd) |
| 2.07 (10th) | 5v5 GA/60 | 2.29 (18th) |
| 6.82 (T-9th) | Power Play GF/60 | 6.82 (T-9th) |
| 6.11 (10th) | Penalty Kill GA/60 | 10.30 (30th) |
| 9.0 (T-7th) | PIM / GP | 9.0 (T-7th) |
| 51.0 (17th) | 5v5 SCORE ADJUSTED CORSI (SA CF%) | 54.6 (4th) |
| 51.7 (16th) | 5v5 SA CF/60 | 61.1 (1st) |
| 51.7 (18th) | 5v5 SA CA/60 | 50.8 (14th) |
51.4 (15th) | 5v5 Score Adjusted Scoring Chances For %(SA SCF%) | 54.8 (2nd) |
| 25.1 (19th) | 5v5 SA SCF/60 | 31.5 (1st) |
| 23.7 (5th) | 5v5 SA SCA/60 | 26.0 (20th) |
| 55.6 (4th) | 5v5 SA Goals For % | 53.8 (8th) |
| 50.9 (T-16th) | 5v5 SA Shots For % | 55.3 (T-1st) |
| 105.5 (17th) | 5v5 SA Corsi Pace/60 (high to low) | 111.9 (1st) |
| 50.2 (19th) | 5v5 SA Fenwick (SA FF%) | 55.7 (1st) |
| 50.4 (19th) | 5v5 SA ZSO % | 52.8 (5th) |
| 8.89 (3rd) | 5v5 Shooting % | 8.32 (8th) |
| 92.79 (7th) | 5v5 Save % | 91.35 (24th) |
| D. Boyle +6.8 J. Moore +4.7 | 5v5 Score Adjusted CF%Rel Leaders (200+ min) | N. Leddy +5.5 J. Boychuk +4.5 |
| T. Glass -9.7 D. Girardi -7.0 | 5v5 Score Adjusted CF%Rel Anchors (200+ min) | C. Cezikas -5.8 B. Strait -5.4 |
| D. Boyle 58.8 C. Kreider 55.8 | 5v5 Score Adjusted SCF% Leaders (200+ min) | L. Visnovsky 58.0 N. Leddy 57.9 |
Keys to the Game
Lower The Event Pace
The New York Islanders have given the Rangers fits this season. I am going to highlight a very short and simple reason why.
Game 1: NYI CF - 60; NYI SCF - 28
Game 2: NYI CF - NYI CF 68; NYI SCF - 34
Game 3: NYI CF 48; NYI SCF - 32
Put simply, the Islanders play high event hockey, and impose their will offensively with a high rate of scoring chances. In fact, they lead the NHL in SCF% by a considerable margin. Even in game 3, where the Rangers did better to reduce the total shot attempts against, they still allowed the Islanders to get into the areas around the net for more premium opportunities.
A great deal of the Islanders scoring chances are generated by stretching the ice and using their skill across 3 excellent scoring lines. But the Rangers have been particularly susceptible to their forecheck. The Islanders expose the slow turns of defensemen like Girardi and Staal, and the scrambling tendencies of McDonagh, to get underneath the Rangers defense, bury the puck deep in the zone, and work it out to the front of the net for scoring chances.
If the Rangers want to beat this team, it begins and ends with team defense deep in the defensive zone. Collapsing on coverage and forcing away net-front presence, allowing Talbot to see and swallow first shot opportunities, and limiting chances coming across the face of the net should all help mitigate the damage. The question is, are the Rangers currently capable of it?
Draw Penalties and Capitalize
One thing the Islanders do not do very well is kill penalties. In fact, they are the worst in the league at it, comfortably below the likes of the Sabres in PK GA/60. The problem is that, like the Rangers, they also don't take many penalties. The Rangers' best hope is to force the "chippy" 4th line into chase mode with some solid forechecking runs against them. This obviously won't be easy as the game is at Nassau, and the Islanders therefore get last change. This means that the Rangers 3rd and 4th line has to play with pace. The 4th line has really struggled over the past 10 games or so (I'm not even going to get into why...you know). So let's hope the 3rd line, lead by world-beating Based God Kevin Hayes and speedy Carl Hagelin, can get under the skin of the Islanders 4s, and maybe Clutterbuck on the 3s, and draw a few power play opportunities.
Lines
NYR
Forwards: Rick Nash-Derick Brassard-Mats Zuccarello, Chris Kreider-Derek Stepan-Martin St. Louis, Carl Hagelin-Kevin Hayes-J.T. Miller, Tanner Glass-Dominic Moore-Lee Stempniak
Defensemen: Ryan McDonagh-Dan Girardi, Marc Staal-Kevin Klein, Matt Hunwick-Dan Boyle
Starting goalie: Cam Talbot
Healthy scratch: D John Moore
Injury/illness: G Henrik Lundqvist, F Jesper Fast
NYI
Forwards: Anders Lee-John Tavares-Josh Bailey, Ryan Strome-Frans Nielsen-Mikhail Grabovski, Cal Clutterbuck-Brock Nelson-Nikolay Kulemin, Matt Martin-Casey Cizikas-Colin McDonald
Defensemen: Johnny Boychuk-Nick Leddy, Travis Hamonic-Brian Strait, Lubomir Visnovsky-Thomas Hickey
Starting goalie: G Jaroslav Halak
Healthy scratch: D Matt Donovan
Injury/illness: D Calvin de Haan, F Kyle Okposo
