The proof is in the pudding when it comes to the Rangers’ power play.
After an 0-for-14 stretch over five games, the Blueshirts finally broke through at the end of the first period Monday night against the Blue Jackets when the second unit took the ice with roughly a minute left in the man-advantage, which is way more time than it is usually allotted. Amid Alexis Lafreniere’s promotion to the top group in Chris Kreider’s absence, the new-look PP2 of Barclay Goodrow, Filip Chytil, Kaapo Kakko, Jacob Trouba and K’Andre Miller held the zone just as effectively as their teammates who are consistently afforded roughly 90 percent of the power-play time.
The puck whipped around the zone before it finally came to Miller at the point, and the red-hot defenseman wristed it right on target for Goodrow to tip in and give the Rangers a 2-0 lead heading into the first intermission.
Of the Rangers’ last 14 power-play goals dating to the start of their surge in early December (including Chytil’s empty-netters against Montreal and Carolina), five have come from the second unit with a fraction of the ice time despite two of them being on an empty net. Three legitimate goals might not seem like a lot, but when they’ve been scored after a change with the clock ticking down to an opposing player jumping out of the penalty box for a potential breakaway, it’s notable.
The personnel of the two power-play units have barely been altered this season. PP1 had been untouched until Kreider’s injury forced head coach Gerard Gallant’s hand. Vitali Kravtsov also replaced Sammy Blais on the second unit at one point before Miller stepped in recently.
Not only has the first unit been out of sync lately, but it’s become abundantly clear that opposing teams are defending it differently this season. What the Rangers do on the power play is so well known at this point that a lot of their greatest weapons — such as Zibanejad’s one-timer from the faceoff circle — are rarely available anymore.
Gallant’s reluctance to at least experiment with different combinations — as he’s done with his forward lines — is only reducing the possibility of the Rangers discovering something new that works. Plus, the disparity in the ice time between the two units has prevented young players, such as Chytil, Kakko, Lafreniere and Miller, from gaining the experience and necessary development to take that next step.
“I think every opportunity is a new one, I kind of had an idea of what I envisioned if I did get a chance,” Miller said of his opportunity on the power play after the 3-1 win in Columbus. “Just getting pucks on net and kind of doing my job from up top. My linemates out there with me made it pretty easy on me. We were working the puck around really well. Kaapo, Troubs. I think just kind of spread them out and get a puck on net and Goody made a great tip there.”
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No one is denying that the first unit, which usually features Kreider, Zibanejad, Artemi Panarin, Vincent Trocheck and Adam Fox, can be lethal. But it makes little to no sense that, after PP2 scored Monday night, it was only given around 15 seconds during the very next stretch with the man-advantage.
Gallant, who has pointed out that his top guys’ stellar puck possession doesn’t always allow for a change, has started utilizing his second unit significantly more than he did earlier in the season. Still, there’s room for more of a balance both in ice time and personnel alterations.
“We’re just going to spot people there in and out,” Gallant said when asked if Miller would stay on the second power play. “He’s done a good job. K’Andre is one of those kids. When you put your units together, you look at stuff. The last couple games he got some chances and he’ll get some looks.”
The drop-off in ice time from the first to the second unit is astounding. Panarin, Zibanejad, Fox, Kreider and Trocheck are all averaging four or more minutes of power-play time a game. Lafreniere, Chytil, Trouba and Kakko are all in the next wave at a minute-plus. Even Zac Jones, who is currently in Hartford, has averaged more time with the man-advantage than the likes of Kravtsov, Goodrow, Miller and Blais.
Miller played on the power play during his collegiate days at Wisconsin and the 22-year-old feels like it could be in his repertoire at the NHL level. Adding the power play to Miller’s list of responsibilities may up his price tag when he becomes a restricted free agent at the end of this season, but in the name of winning, the Rangers shouldn’t mind.
“I think the coaches have asked a lot, but just put me out in different situations, giving me a lot of leeway or whatever you want to call it,” Miller said. “I think it’s just about kind of showing up and proving your spot and when an opportunity comes, taking advantage of it.”
The Rangers re-assigned Ryan Carpenter to AHL Hartford, which bodes well for Kreider’s return to the lineup from his upper-body injury.
