The New York Rangers are magic.
Alain Vigneault's squad sits tied atop the Metropolitan Division, its 35 points good for second-most in the Eastern Conference. New York's 95 goals lead the NHL - only three other teams have scored 80 or more - yet at 5-on-5, the Rangers hardly have the puck on their sticks.
| Team | Corsi For % | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Senators | 47.8 | 26 |
| Red Wings | 46.46 | 27 |
| Islanders | 46.03 | 28 |
| Rangers | 45.76 | 29 |
| Coyotes | 44.60 | 30 |
The Rangers and Ottawa Senators are the only two teams currently in playoff position while ranked in the bottom five in possession.
Even more amazing: the Rangers' plus-30 goal differential is tops in the league, and that's with a .917 team save percentage (10th in the NHL). Henrik Lundqvist's only at .914 - not very Lundqvist-like, as he's always at .920 or better - while Antti Raanta's picking up the slack, checking in at .931.
On fire
Helping matters is New York's power play, which ranks sixth in the league at 22.7 percent. The Rangers are also a top-10 penalty killing team, coming in at ninth at 85.1 percent.
There's more. Three Rangers are shooting over 20 percent on the season: leading scorer Kevin Hayes (23.8 percent), Michael Grabner (22.8 percent), and Pavel Buchnevic (22.2 percent in 10 games). After shooting a career-low 8.2 percent last season, Rick Nash is firing at 15.1 percent. The hockey gods are fickle.
Thing is, the Rangers danced to this number last season. New York finished 26th in the league in 2015-16 in possession, coming in at 47.36. What's concerning is that through a quarter of the season, they're even worse. And after scoring five or more goals in 10 games through Nov. 21, the offense is regressing - as expected.
After a 7-2 beating of the Vancouver Canucks on Nov. 15, in which New York was outshot 38-25, the Rangers have scored five in a game once, and 23 times in nine games.
Possession obviously isn't the be all and end all, but it's becoming more and more clear that the teams at the top of the Corsi ledger are the ones left standing late in the spring. And that's all that matters.
The Rangers are in Brooklyn on Tuesday night, in a game hockey nerds should find interesting to watch. One of the teams is going to have to have the puck.
(All statistics courtesy: Corsica Hockey)
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