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New York Rangers: Five Takeaways From Round One Victory Over Montreal Canadiens

By Kenneth Teape

Apr 22, 2017; New York, NY, USA; New York Rangers right wing Mats Zuccarello (36) celebrates with Rangers left wing Pavel Buchnevich (89) after defeating the Montreal Canadiens in game six of the first round of the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 22, 2017; New York, NY, USA; New York Rangers right wing Mats Zuccarello (36) celebrates with Rangers left wing Pavel Buchnevich (89) after defeating the Montreal Canadiens in game six of the first round of the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports /
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New York Rangers: Five Takeaways From Round One Victory Over Montreal Canadiens
Apr 20, 2017; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; New York Rangers head coach Alain Vigneault during the third period in game five against Montreal Canadiens of the first round of the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Bell Centre. Mandatory Credit: Jean-Yves Ahern-USA TODAY Sports /

Power Play Struggles

In the regular season, the Rangers had one of the better power plays in the NHL. They scored 47 power play goals on 232 power plays, which equaled out to 20.3 percent. That was good enough for 10th in the NHL.

Montreal was middle of the road in killing penalties at 81.1 percent, which ranked 14th in the league. It was fair to believe that the Rangers would find some success on special teams. Well, the Rangers power play unit was pathetic in the series.

The Rangers went 1-for-15 on the power play in six games against the Canadiens. They didn’t score that power play goal until Game 6, as Zuccarello scored the Rangers first goal of the decisive game on the power play.

It is surprising that the Rangers were able to win the series without finding any success on special teams. They were unable to take advantage of the opportunities that were presented to them by the Canadiens.

They will have to improve that as the playoffs go on. You must make teams pay when they make mistakes. The Rangers were lucky that their ineptitude on the power play did not cost them against Montreal.

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