A revenge-filled evening on Thursday night saw the New York Rangers defeat the Minnesota Wild 4-1, just four days after the Wild ended the Rangers’ six-game winning streak without a 5-4 win in a shootout. It was their third game without Adam Fox, Filip Chytil, and Igor Shesterkin, yet they have a record of 2-0-1 in those contests, largely due to the outstanding play of the newly formed second line.
When Chytil went down, Vincent Trocheck stepped into the 2C role and has run with it, connecting for three goals and six points in those three contests. Artemi Panarin has continued his red-hot play, tying his career-long point streak of 13 games, putting him one game away from tying Rangers’ legend Rod Gilbert for the longest point streak to start a season in franchise history.
And, of course, Alexis Lafreniere has continued his strong play. Consistency has been hard to come by, but he has been noticeable even when he is not recording points, which has started to happen over the past couple of games. The second line has been great, which has masked some of the other issues up front that the Rangers may have.
There is a lack of offense, particularly at five-on-five, from guys like Kaapo Kakko, Mika Zibanejad, Chris Kreider, and Blake Wheeler, which has largely gone unnoticed because of superb special teams, goaltending, defensive play, and the second-line.
For the Rangers to reach their ultimate goal, the team as a whole needs to get going at even strength. But in the interim, they are 10-2-1 and atop the Metropolitan Division because of how good their second line has been offensively.
Analytics and Stats Galore for Rangers’ Second Line
Panarin, Trocheck and Lafreniere have played just north of 41 minutes together at five-on-five this season. According to Natural Stat Trick, the trio has a Corsi For percentage (CF%) of 64.29 percent. They have also owned 63.16 percent of the scoring chances when on the ice and have an expected goals percentage of 52.77 percent.
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In the last three games, Trocheck has six points, Panarin has six, and Lafreniere has five. In the win over the Wild, Lafreniere recorded his first-ever three-point game, tallying a goal and two assists. The former first-overall selection has looked great with Panarin all season, and Trocheck has been inserted into the spot previously occupied by Chytil and run with it.
In fact, the line with Trocheck at center is nearly five percentage points better in terms of CF% than the line was with Chytil. It begs the question: will this line remain intact once Chytil returns healthy? The answer, I believe, is yes, and I think we will see Chytil center the third line with Will Cuylle and Kakko.
Head coach Peter Laviolette will undoubtedly have a big decision to make when that time comes, but he is enjoying the fruits of the second line’s labor. It’s a scary thought where this time might be without the production that has stemmed from the second line, first with Chytil in the middle and now Trocheck.
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Obviously, Panarin is on a Hart Trophy pace right now and looks like the best version of himself that we have seen since he came to New York, which is a genuinely elite version, considering how good he has been during his Rangers’ tenure. Lafreniere has found the offense that was lacking during his first three seasons and looks to be tracking toward his first 50-plus point season in the NHL.
The positives are all there for the second line, the Rangers’ best offensive line at even strength.
Rangers Need More From the Other Lines
The second line has vastly outperformed the first line, which, similarly, is in its second variation with Wheeler on the right instead of Kakko. The combination of Kreider, Zibanejad and Wheeler has yet to score a five-on-five goal together, while the previous trio, with Kakko instead of Wheeler, managed just two five-on-five goals.
It’s been a lackluster performance thus far by Zibanejad, who has consistently been one of the Rangers’ better forwards but relies so heavily on special teams for production. A little more even-strength offense would go a long way toward making the Rangers a much more difficult team to play against.
The third line features a revamped look with Kakko, Nick Bonino, and Cuylle. They have yet to click for a goal at five-on-five, although Cuylle scored at five-on-five during a line change. Despite the technicality, you can clearly see that the second line is the only one producing at even strength, especially since the injury to Chytil rearranged the forward lines.
Any time you go 10-2-1, you are doing something right, and with the key players that are injured right now, you take the wins and points however you can get them. But this Rangers group has a chance to be dominant, and their only hurdle is five-on-five production.
Can the other lines support what Panarin and Lafreniere have done together with the support of Trocheck and Chytil? That question needs to be answered, and it needs to be answered by Zibanejad and Kakko, two guys the Rangers need much more from at five-on-five.
