Brandon Pirri

New York Rangers: The Power Play is Looking Powerless Again

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 11:25 p.m. ET

Fansided, John Williams/FanSided via Blue Line Station

After being one of the top units in the league over the first two months of the season, the New York Rangers’ power play has really struggled in the month of December.

The New York Rangers power play is one of the biggest mysteries in sports.

It seems like year after year the power play is futile, no matter who is on it, what coach is running it, or what style they play.

Of course, sometimes there are spurts where it is lethal. Last year, the power play was the only thing producing points for about a 8 or 9 game stretch in December. After that performance, it went down hill fast, even to the point where it had completely collapsed down the stretch run. The team couldn’t figure out how to enter the zone, and that killed them because they were never able to garner sustained pressure.

The Rangers power play this year was looking really promising early on. It has pretty much ranked in the top 10 of the league all season long. The biggest difference between this year’s unit and last years besides the zone entries was that they moved around, weren’t afraid to shoot it, as well as get bodies to the net.

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Then Pavel Buchnevich got hurt, Mika Zibanejad got hurt and then Brandon Pirri forgot how to score.

And here we are.

Injuries have hurt

The New York Rangers power play has taken a severe hit since the beginning of the month of December. Without Zibanejad and Buchnevich and the continued downward spiral of Brandon Pirri, the power play–which still miraculously ranks in the top 10 in the NHL–has crashed.

In fact, the power play has a measly 4-27 success rate in their last 9 games (14.8%) which is as rough as it sounds. The power play isn’t always bad, even though they aren’t scoring, but sometimes it has been painful to watch.

Zone entries again have been a problem for the team like they were last year–not to the same extent, of course.–and that has hurt them. When they do get in the zone and get set up, they tend to make one pass too many, which not only generates a lack of chances, but it also can create turnovers.

The team needs to realize that the more shots to the net, the better the chances are for a deflection. The goalies in this league are so good now that deflections are key. They don’t have an Alex Ovechkin that they can just plug into the circle–they will when Zibanejad gets back–so they have to be able to adjust and try new things.

It’s really upsetting when you see how the Rangers penalty kill is way more intimidating for opposing defenses than the team’s own power play. That’s where the Rangers are at right now.