Rangers vs. Senators: Confidence
The human element, the confidence bump, and a suddenly competent Rangers squad—are they actually turning a corner?
- Chip and I talked about this a little bit on the podcast, prompted by a question about why some people deplore fancy stats. It's from Vincent Trocheck's postgame locker room interview following the New York Rangers come-from-behind win over the Dallas Stars on Tuesday night:
"Always a confidence builder whenever you're able to come back late. It's nice for us to step up there the last minute and get one to tie the game. Those extra points in overtime are huge late in the season"
— Rangers Videos (@SNYRangers) December 3, 2025
- Vincent Trocheck pic.twitter.com/oF9Y9clSld
- There's that word, confidence. I brought this up in my answer to the "do you see why some of us hate fancy stats" question because there obviously is a human element to the game. It's played by humans, so that should go without saying. But it's sometimes worth the reminder. Just because we can't measure or quantify something precisely doesn't mean that it doesn't exist. (And, conversely, just because it's a game played by humans doesn't mean we should throw out any and all attempts to measure things.)
- It does seem that these Rangers are gaining confidence. I know I don't need to recap the schizophrenic, Jekyll-and-Hyde start to the season this team has had—a monster on the road and a nightmare at home. But, between a dominant win over the very good Dallas Stars team on Tuesday (at home, no less!), and this more 50/50 (MoneyPuck put it at about 60/40 in favor of the Senators, actually) win over an Ottawa Senators team in the midst of the same Eastern Conference log jam? There's reason to wonder if they're finally turning a corner.
