Rangers look to take down ‘top dogs’ when they face NHL-best Jets
The New York Rangers are gearing up for the biggest test of their season thus far when they host the top team in the NHL, the Winnipeg Jets, on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden.
The Jets are rolling with a 14-1-0 record and an NHL-best 28 points. They also just set an NHL record as the first team to earn 14 wins in their first 15 games of the season.
“They’re the top dogs in the League right now, I mean they just set a record,” coach Peter Laviolette explained Monday. “I think their record is justified. For us, it’ll be a great test, a great challenge as we’re playing the best team in the League right now.”
The Rangers must contend with a team that’s not only lost just once, but one that tops the League in goals for (4.47 per game), goals against (2.07), goal differential (plus 36) and on the power play (41.9 percent).
Related: Rangers face huge test against League-leading Jets at either best or worst time
Rangers must bring ‘A game’ against red-hot Jets
The Jets are firing on all cylinders. They just handedly defeated the Dallas Stars, a Western Conference favorite, 4-1 on Saturday, and will look to win their seventh straight game Tuesday. The Jets loss came against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Oct. 28, a 6-4 final, which occurred after a season-opening eight-game winning streak.
“Anytime you play the top team in the League, it’s a great challenge to see where you’re at,” veteran forward Sam Carrick said after practice Monday. “We want to bring our “A game” and prove that we’re up there with them. No better way to do it than to play them at home here in front of our fans.”
Over the past few weeks, the Rangers have struggled to bring that “A” game Carrick eludes to. Despite a 4-3-0 record in their past seven games, New York has developed a habit of giving up far too many chances against, and have been relying heavily on their goaltenders to win them games and mask the damage in their losses.
Simply, the Rangers have often been out-hustled, out-worked, out-skated, out-chanced — you name it. That won’t do against the No. 1 overall team in the NHL.
“They’re a deep team,” continued Carrick. “Hard to play against, hard to create chances against. They’re rolling right now, obviously they’re a confident group. It’s going to be important to get off to a good start and roll a bit from there.”
The last time the Rangers were on home ice, they did not get off to a good start. It was quite the opposite, in fact, when they gave up a goal just 26 seconds into the game against the Buffalo Sabres on their way to an embarrassing 6-1 loss. They’ll look to repay the Blueshirts Faithful with a much better performance Tuesday.
To do so, they’ll need to shut down Winnipeg’s top offensive weapons. Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor lead the way with 19 points each, and Nikolaj Ehlers is right there with 18. Don’t forget about Josh Morrissey on the blue line either. He’s got 16 points (two goals, 14 assists) to start the season, second among all NHL defensemen. Morrissey is tied for ninth among all skaters in assists.
The Rangers will also have to figure out goalie Connor Hellebuyck, who is making an early case to win the Vezina Trophy again. The reigning Vezina winner is 11-1-0 with a stellar .935 save percentage and 1.83 goals against average. He also leads the NHL with three shutouts, including two last week, which helped him be named the NHL First Star of the Week on Monday.
Hellebuyck has allowed one goal in his past three games.
“They’re just a good team,” defenseman Zac Jones said. “They’re fast, they’re hard, they play a simple game, and they’ve got a lot of talented players over there, so we need to limit their chances and play our game.”
Limiting chances will be the name of the game for New York. They’ve continued to struggle with giving up too many scoring chances, and too many high-danger one. According to Natural Stat Trick, the Rangers have 396 scoring chances for, 437 against, and 172 high-danger chances for, 184 against in all situations this season.
What masks these numbers are the Rangers goalies. Igor Shesterkin and Jonathan Quick have given up 30 goals on the season, yet the Rangers have an expected goal against of 47.68. If not for these two, the Rangers would be far worse off than a 9-3-1 record.
As for who starts in goal for the Rangers, you’d think Shesterkin will. However, Quick, coming off a 37-save shutout against the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday, was the first goalie off the ice after practice on Monday. Stay tuned.
No matter who’s in goal, the Rangers need one of their best efforts of the young season to measure up against the red-hot Jets.
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