Rangers once-vaunted power play has gone missing in growing concern

The Rangers have lost a significant part of their offensive motor on the power play, as well as a step on their confidence-boosting penalty kill. 

It’s been seven games since the Blueshirts last scored a power-play goal, dating back to the second period of the 6-3 loss to the Jets on Nov. 12.

That’s a concerning 0-for-14 stretch for a part of the game they so heavily rely on. 

“It’s not scoring, they’re not bopping right now,” head coach Peter Laviolette said at the end of the four-game road trip. “There’s some movement, there’s some looks. They’re walking in, but it’s not falling for us. It can be better. There’s no question, it can be better.” 

Dropping to 15th in the NHL in power-play percentage at 20.4, the Rangers have simply looked disjointed with the man advantage. 

Similarly to the Rangers’ issues five-on-five, entering the zone has become a one-and-done opportunity.

Opponents are so often able to break the Rangers up in transition, force them to the perimeter or prevent a unit that has largely been skating together for years from connecting around the offensive zone. 

Peter Laviolette did make some personnel changes, which is something the Rangers head coach hasn’t had to do since taking over the team last year. 

Since Chris Kreider has missed the past two games with back spasms, Alexis Lafreniere has filled in for the longest-tenured Ranger on PP1 with Mika Zibanejad, Vincent Trocheck, Artemi Panarin and Adam Fox. 

The second group has been pumped with youth, after Brett Berard joined the mix alongside Will Cuylle, Zac Jones, Kaapo Kakko and Reilly Smith. 

Wednesday night’s 4-3 loss to the Hurricanes saw the Rangers lose the special teams battle, giving up two power-play goals in the four man-advantage stretches they faced.

In the 6-2 loss to the Oilers, the Rangers gave up their first shorthanded goal of the season — something that only happened seven total times in 2023-24. 

Will Cuylle has shown up on the scoresheet in five of the Rangers’ past six games, garnering four goals and three assists while playing on both the second power-play unit and penalty kill. 

The 22-year-old logged a career-high 19:39 of ice time Wednesday night, posting an assist, two shots on goal, two blocks and five hits in the loss.