The Rangers’ strong offense means they’re off to a strong start at 5-on-5

The New York Rangers are on the right track with a 5-0-1 start to the season. In past seasons, these types of runs have been driven by Igor Shesterkin and the power play. Although neither weapon struggled, it was the Rangers’ 5-on-5 offense that got them off to a strong start. Although it is still early, the hope is that this time it appears to be sustainable.

A strong Rangers 5-on-5 offense has eluded this team for some time. The last few seasons have been the Shesterkin and power play show, with the hope that the Rangers can tread water at 5-on-5. Last year’s team had the best chance to prove the doubters wrong, but fell short against a better and more diverse Florida Panthers team.

The Rangers’ offense currently ranks in the top ten in the three most important possession categories: CF/60 (65.00, 8th), xGF/60 (3.95, 1st) and HDCF/60 (16.36, 2nd). . This is in stark contrast to last year’s numbers, where the Rangers were in the mid-teens at best. Given that Shesterkin is in net, high-level hockey like this will benefit them in the long run. But some of this also affects the first month of hockey, which tends to slow down a bit over the course of a full season.

Their overall possession rate isn’t that high, especially because the defense was subpar, but the Rangers’ offense definitely made up for it.

The Rangers’ offense is driven by the final six players

The Rangers’ offense may be scoring goals from all sides, but it’s the balance in the bottom six that has fueled this six-game surge. Filip Chytil has proven to have a huge impact on the Rangers’ offense at 5-on-5, not only through the performance of the third line, but also the attention he draws from the top six. Now teams have to defend three lines, not just one.

The inclusion of the fourth line was also a nice surprise. It’s not something you can count on from game to game, but if they can score one goal a week, that’s more than enough for this team. They won’t be playing their first games, but the extra goal per week is a huge achievement, especially if the trio are actually above water in terms of possession.

The Rangers’ offensive production at 5-on-5 also takes the pressure off both the power play and Shesterkin, who has to be perfect. For example, Shesterkin had a bad game against Utah and the Rangers still got a point. There’s also a strong argument that they should have won had it not been for Matt Rempe bias, but I digress.

It’s still early

It’s been a solid start to the season, but the key word here is start. These offensive numbers are likely unsustainable as they would be close to a record xGF/60 for a full season. The defense will also develop respectably again. While we may see a little less offense, the defense will more than make up for it when the winter season begins.

Injuries, which will happen at some point, could play a role in how successful the Rangers’ offense remains at 5-on-5. We saw how quickly everything collapsed when Chytil got injured last season, and that’s still a big risk this season. Adam Fox’s injury also played a major role in their playoff exit last season. We have found center depth to be an issue, so a serious injury could derail this strong start.

Unlike previous seasons, we were pleasantly surprised by this type of offensive dominance from the Rangers. While the numbers may change throughout the season, continuing to dominate in this manner bodes well for April, May and June.