After watching last nights game, where the powerplay was very successful and an integral part of the win, I can’t help but wonder if the PP is what this team really needs after the break, not a top-six wing (granted, that can’t really hurt). As it currently sits, the Rangers powerplay is 15.2%, good for 26th in the NHL (they leap frogged over Dallas with the two PPGs last night). But let’s break this down a little further, the Rangers have drawn 210 powerplays, which is 5th in the league, not too shabby.

To draw a what-if out of this scenario, what if the Rangers PP% was in the top 10 in the league (20.5%)? Well, to reach the 20.5%, the Rangers would have needed to add to that abysmal 32 total PPGs, upping it to around 43 (43/210 is 20.4% effeciency). This in turn ups the Rangers GF from 119 to 130 (I’m not including the goal a team gets for a shootout win, which adds 8 goals to the Rangers totals). Their Goals Per Game then rises from 2.43 to 2.7, good for a jump from 25th to 19th in the league. Not terrible, but not exactly where you would want them to be either. I’m sure they could have used some PPGs in some tight games. Think where they would have been with a PPG here, where they went 0/4, or here, where they again went 0/4, or here, where they went an astonishing 0/9 (ok, they would have needed 3 to make it a tie game, but 3/9 really isn’t out of the realm of possibility).

That’s 3 points lost (at a minimum, it could be 5 because of the Rangers success in the shootout) because of an inept powerplay. Three points may not seem like much, but that boosts the Rangers from 60 points to 63 points, ahead of Washington for the #2 seed in the East, and 4 points ahead of the Devils in the division (thus effectively eliminating their advantage of having games in hand). That 2 seed looms very large, as Montreal will probably wind up anywhere between the #4 and #6 seed. And as we have realized, the Rangers do not match up well against the Habs.

But do the Rangers have the player personnel capable of being a top 10 powerplay? We all know what the roster looks like, so we all know they should be able to be a top 10 unit. If the ineffectiveness continues, we may be looking at the end of the Perry Pearn era in NY.

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