Record Setting

First, the good news: So far this season, Igor Shesterkin has stopped 103 of 106 shots on goal. His backup, Jonathan Quick, has stopped 20 of 21 shots on goal. Together, the pair have a combined save percentage of .969, by far the best in the league. More good news, over their last three games, the New York Rangers have thoroughly outplayed their opponents, out-chancing them 95-56; and 29-12 in high danger chances.

Now for the bad news: Despite all that, the Rangers are 2-3-0 under Mike Sullivan. As if that weren't bad enough, they are the first team in the 107 year history of the NHL to be shut out in their first three home games. Now that's what I call record setting.

In the five and half decades I've been following this team, I thought I'd seen it all. Injuries to key players, fluke goals, bad giveaways, bad luck, no luck at all. But I never saw this coming. Then again I never saw the Mets collapse either. And to add insult to injury, Chris Kreider, who Chris Drury traded over the summer, has scored four goals in three games for the Anaheim Ducks. The Monday morning quarterbacks are already in mid-season form.

There are two ways of looking at this. 1. The Rangers have been victimized by some pretty damn good goaltending, which for them is a switch since usually it's the other way around; 2. They lack the firepower to finish in the offensive zone.

If I had to guess, I'd say it's a little bit of both. Let's be honest, after being the beneficiaries of Igor's heists over the last few years, it was inevitable that the pendulum might swing back, if only for a while. The hockey gods do have a sense of humor, you know. But with Vincent Trocheck on LTIR and Artemi Panarin clearly not himself after sustaining a pre-season injury, that's hardly the 1985 Edmonton Oilers out there.

It's telling that the Rangers leading goal scorer is Adam Fox with three. No one else has more than one. Last night against the Oilers, the best line on the ice for the Blueshirts was Sam Carrick centering Adam Edstrom and Matt Rempe. They combined for three of New York's ten high-danger scoring chances. 

For this team to have any chance of making the playoffs, let alone advancing, they are going to need their top six to produce. And by produce, I mean more than four goals. Mika Zibanjead leads the league in shots on goal with 22, which is nice to see, but he has found the back of the net only once. That isn't going to cut it. Until Trocheck returns, he has to take up the slack.

And while Panarin gets back to his old self, the spotlight is on Alexis Lafreniere. This is his sixth year in the NHL and the former overall number one draft pick still has yet to deliver on his promise. Aside from the game against the Sabres in Buffalo, he has been virtually invisible so far this season. It's time for him to shit or get off the pot.

Look, I'm not going to panic. J.T. Miller has a point when he told reporters after the game, "Let’s not make this bigger than it is. It’s game five. A lot to like about our game. It’s a unique situation, but let’s not blow this out of proportion here." However, if they're still having trouble scoring after twenty games, I'd start worrying.

For now, as an old manager of mine used to say, "It is what it is." The Rangers have played five games this season; they've lost three of them. Not the start they wanted, but it's still early.