Special teams, special team: The key to Rangers’ 6-0 start in 2024 playoffs

Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

Special night: a dramatic double-overtime victory at home to keep the New York Rangers undefeated in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Special play: Vincent Trocheck batting a puck under Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Frederik Andersen to win the game and make Madison Square Garden erupt, after which Trocheck shared a moment with the fans while getting mobbed by teammates up against the glass.

Special player: goaltender Igor Shesterkin, making 54 saves, many of them breathtaking, to outduel Andersen in the win.

But ultimately, it’s special teams that have the Rangers up 2-0 in this series. They are 4/9 on their power play attempts through two games, while the Carolina Hurricanes are 0/10.

“It’s definitely a strength — you want it to be a strength,” Adam Fox told Daily Faceoff about their group’s power play unit. “You look at every series, and if you win the special teams battle I think you have a pretty good chance at winning your series.”

Game 2 between the Hurricanes and the Rangers had a very weird vibe to it. Carolina carried the game, but throughout the night they had continued to only hurt themselves by being undisciplined. That being said, the Rangers were able to remain resilient and the maturity was evident throughout the game.

Something that has stood out through the first six games of the playoffs is the Rangers’ maturation now as opposed to previous postseasons. There’s a common saying amongst NHL players when they talk about finally getting over the hump in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, “You have to lose before you learn how to win.” If you’ve watched this team since the 2021-22 season, you can see how much they’ve grown collectively. Peter Laviolette has come into this organization and has created such a strong foundation in a short amount of time.

“It’s part of a plan to come in here and hope to build something the right way. Players have to really grab onto that — and they have,” Laviolette said. “I do think they’re having fun, there’s good camaraderie. They play hard for each other in a game, they practise hard together. They get along well off the ice.”

“We don’t like looking back crazy far, especially when you’re in a new season — with a new team, but I think it’s naive to not recognize the past couple of years and what happened last year and going on a bit of a run the year before,” Rangers captain Jacob Trouba told Daily Faceoff.

“Two years ago, losing in the third round and last year, obviously what happened [blowing a 2-0 series lead to the Devils] — you learn a lot from it”, Lafreniere said. “I think this year we made good moves to get really good players at the deadline. I think we’re a complete team. From forwards to defensemen to our goalies — both of them, we’re really complete, so that helps a lot.”

After taking Game 2 in double overtime, the Rangers now find themselves in a very similar situation as the past two postseason runs. A 2-0 series lead has haunted this group in years past as their cup aspirations were cut short in 2022 after letting a 2-0 lead slip against the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Eastern Conference Final, to then go through the same thing last year against the New Jersey Devils in the opening round. This time around, they’re aware of what’s to come.

“I feel like we’re in a pretty good spot with how we feel mentally and how we prepare. I think that’s something that we’re going to have to continue to work and do throughout the postseason,” Trouba said. “Things change quickly. We know that from past years. We know we gotta keep raising our level. We know the desperation and how hard it is to win a series is something that we’re going to keep working at.”

Alexis Lafreniere is the perfect example of some of the growth within this group. He had gone 28 postseason games without scoring a goal — on Wednesday night he scored two huge ones to keep his team in the game. He has seven points in the team’s six games. Lafreniere has produced consistently all season on the line with Trocheck and Artemi Panarin.

“I think he’s taken the regular season and the confidence he got from that and he’s bringing it into the playoffs,” Laviolette said.

On Day 1 of training camp back in September, Trocheck said this group had a “No BS” mentality. It’s incredibly fitting that he scored the team’s biggest goal of the season on Tuesday night to secure the big win against his former team.

“He’s part of every part of the game”, Laviolette said. “He just keeps answering the bell with it. He was noticeable. He was engaged. You can see it in his demeanor and you can see it in the way he’s playing the game. He’s engaged.”

The confidence that this group has in one another is evident, so much so that Panarin took a penalty in overtime which prevented a potential game-winning goal, but he had the trust in the penalty kill to bail him out.

“I wasn’t really nervous because I was so tired. We have a great PK — they did an unbelievable job. I took a penalty, but I think I had to do that because they had a 2-on-1. I’m very thankful for the penalty killers.” he said.

New York’s penalty kill is now at 92.6%, which is the third-best in the entire playoffs. The power play has converted at a 40% rate, which is also the third-best, but this is what elevates the Rangers to being a great team as opposed to just a good team.

“We’re not doubting our 5v5 ability, we’re able to play that too, but if you’re going to get opportunities on the man-advantage or vice versa when you have to kill an opportunity for them— I think having confidence in that is a big part of it as well”, Fox said.

Special teams will continue to be the Rangers’ number one weapon, but this group will continue to lean on their previous experiences to help them move forward throughout the postseason on what will hopefully be a long playoff run.

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Special teams, special team: The key to Rangers’ 6-0 start in 2024 playoffs

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