{"id":256791,"date":"2025-10-28T15:04:12","date_gmt":"2025-10-28T15:04:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/256791\/"},"modified":"2025-10-28T15:04:12","modified_gmt":"2025-10-28T15:04:12","slug":"the-10-rangers-stats-that-tell-the-story-of-new-yorks-first-10-games","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/256791\/","title":{"rendered":"The 10 Rangers stats that tell the story of New York\u2019s first 10 games"},"content":{"rendered":"

VANCOUVER \u2014 The New York Rangers were off Monday as they attempt to regroup following three straight losses. The latest came Sunday in Calgary, where a 5-1 defeat against the Flames prompted coach Mike Sullivan to bluntly state, \u201cWe\u2019re not at our best right now<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s been the case for much of the first 10 games of the 2025-26 season, albeit for different reasons. At first, the Rangers were executing a tight defensive system<\/a> but couldn\u2019t score. And while those offensive woes have largely continued, the defense has taken a step back<\/a> during this losing streak. It\u2019s left fans wondering if their hope for a rebound following last season\u2019s crash-and-burn is destined for disappointment.<\/p>\n

The 3-5-2 record isn\u2019t pretty, leaving New York tied with the Boston Bruins for worst points percentage in the Eastern Conference entering play Monday. But a deeper look into the statistics reveals a mix of both positive and negative trends.<\/p>\n

To give us a better idea of how the Rangers are performing in all facets of the game \u2014 both as a team and individually \u2014 here are 10 numbers that caught my eye through 10 games. (Big thanks to colleagues Shayna Goldman and Dom Luszczyszyn for assists on a few of these!)<\/p>\n

10 stats for 10 games<\/p>\n

10 goals allowed to begin and end periods \u2014 Ten is the number of goals the Rangers have surrendered in the first two or final two minutes of a period this season. Three have been empty-netters in the closing moments of losses, but as captain J.T. Miller said Sunday, poor starts are \u201cbecoming a trend.\u201d New York has allowed a goal in the opening two minutes of three of its last four games. The Rangers seem to lose focus at the end of periods, as well. San Jose Sharks rising star Macklin Celebrini scored in the final 10 seconds of the first and second periods during the Rangers\u2019 6-5 OT loss on Thursday. It nearly happened again Sunday, with the Rangers receiving a fortunate bounce when a Nazem Kadri shot redirected off defenseman Will Borgen\u2019s skate and away from the net in the final seconds of the first period.<\/p>\n

11.44 goals below expected \u2014 That\u2019s the gap between the Rangers\u2019 actual goals (22) and expected goals (33.44) in all situations, according to Evolving-Hockey, which ranked as the third-worst differential behind the Capitals (11.68) and Flames (11.57) entering play Monday. The Rangers have argued they deserve better based on the quality of their scoring chances, with these numbers backing up that claim. In theory, their luck should even out if they continue at this pace.<\/p>\n

17.32 Corsi For\/60 \u2014 Mika Zibanejad is the poster child for generating looks and not getting rewarded. His average of 17.32 shot attempts per 60 minutes in all situations ranks as a career high, as does his rate of 1.47 individual expected goals per 60, according to Evolving-Hockey. The latter stat leads the team, as do his 25 individual high-danger scoring chances, according to Natural Stat Trick. For comparison, Zibanejad was at 12.4 shot attempts per 60 and 0.6 ixG last season while producing a total of only 72 iHDCF across all 82 games. Does that guarantee the goals will come? No, but it serves as evidence that he\u2019s more aggressively seeking his shot and getting to the high-danger areas.<\/p>\n

7.7 SH% \u2014 That\u2019s the Rangers\u2019 collective shooting percentage, which ranks 31st in the NHL. The glass-half-full take would be that they\u2019re due for an uptick, but this isn\u2019t all about bad luck. New York\u2019s roster is as light on finishing talent as it\u2019s been since the late-2010s rebuild era, and it\u2019s becoming painfully obvious<\/a>. Their top six\u00a0 has only three proven point producers \u2014 Miller, Zibanejad and Artemi Panarin \u2014 leaving Sullivan to rely on limited veterans such as Taylor Raddysh and Conor Sheary in critical spots. Meanwhile, the bottom six is devoid of skill, and the D-corps has no offensive threat outside of Adam Fox. Their goal output and shooting percentage reflects that harsh reality.<\/p>\n

\"Taylor<\/p>\n

\n The Rangers are struggling to put the puck into the net this season. (Leah Hennel \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

16.0 PP% \u2014 The Rangers have been a mediocre to bad team at five-on-five for years, but their offense has been fueled by one of the NHL\u2019s best power plays. From 2019 to 2024, they ranked fourth with a 24 percent success rate. They plummeted to 17.6 percent last season, which sat 28th in the league, and have gotten off to an even worse start at 16 percent to begin the 2025-26 season. They\u2019ve converted four of 25 opportunities, with their once-feared top unit struggling to get into a groove.<\/p>\n

2.5 PP per game \u2014 This stat may be part of the problem. Entering Monday, the Rangers were tied for last in the NHL with an average of 2.5 power-play opportunities per game. They\u2019re simply not drawing enough penalties, especially of late. They\u2019ve had two power plays or fewer in three of their last four games, a sign that they\u2019re not spending enough time with possession of the puck.<\/p>\n

7 points \u2014 That\u2019s how many points the Rangers\u2019 co-leaders, Fox and Panarin, have through 10 games. Their average of 0.7 points per game falls well short of their lofty standards. It\u2019s been especially glaring for Panarin, who entered the season with a 1.28 points-per-game mark since coming to New York in 2019. He\u2019s been held off the scoresheet in six of 10 games so far. There\u2019s a long way to go, but with his 34th birthday Thursday, it\u2019s looking like the Rangers should proceed with caution when deciding how much \u2014 and how long \u2014 to offer the pending free agent.<\/p>\n

7.87 HDCA\/60 \u2014 There\u2019s a lot to be concerned with at this early juncture, but we\u2019ll finish with a few stats on the positive side of things, starting with defensive improvements. There\u2019s been a dip the last few games \u2014 \u201cWe\u2019re getting away from a team game,\u201d as Sullivan put it \u2014 but the overall numbers remain encouraging. The Rangers sit first in the NHL with an average of 7.87 high-danger scoring chances allowed per 60 minutes at five-on-five, according to Natural Stat Trick, which is a quantum leap from the 12.2 HDCA\/60 that ranked 29th last season. They also rank second with 2.1 xGA\/60 and fifth with 1.94 goals allowed per 60. Sullivan\u2019s emphasis on defense<\/a> has paid immediate dividends; now it\u2019s a matter of maintaining it.<\/p>\n

60.29% xGF \u2014 Alexis Lafreni\u00e8re has taken a lot of heat, some of it deserved. The Rangers are counting on him to fortify a thin top six<\/a>, so three points (one goal and two assists) and inconsistent all-around play aren\u2019t going to cut it. But a look under the hood shows an impact that\u2019s better than the general perception suggests. The 24-year-old\u2019s 60.29 percent xGF is best on the team, according to Natural Stat Trick, with New York holding a decisive 34-14 edge in high-danger chances at five-on-five. It needs to result in better production, but the Rangers typically have the advantage while Lafreni\u00e8re is on the ice.<\/p>\n

1.74 QoC \u2014 Our final stat comes from Luszczyszyn, who built a model that measures the difficulty of the matchups a given player faces. It gives Fox a 1.74 offensive quality of competition rating, which ranks highest among Rangers defensemen. But what exactly does that mean? For context, Fox was fourth last season with a 1.18 QoC. What this tells us is that he\u2019s being used in more of a true shutdown role with new partner Vladislav Gavrikov, who ranks right behind Fox at 1.69. Under previous coach Peter Laviolette, the K\u2019Andre Miller-Borgen pair was used more often against opposing teams\u2019 top lines, and as such, had a higher QoC.<\/p>\n

Under increasingly strenuous circumstances, Fox is holding up quite well. His 59.35 percent xGF and 1.99 xGA\/60 both rank tops among New York\u2019s defensemen this season, according to Natural Stat Trick, with positive results in some of his tougher head-to-head matchups. His xGF was 64 percent against Edmonton\u2019s Leon Draisaitl (along with 55.07 percent against Connor McDavid), 81.01 percent against Toronto\u2019s Auston Matthews and 75.8 percent against Minnesota\u2019s Kirill Kaprizov, as a few examples.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"VANCOUVER \u2014 The New York Rangers were off Monday as they attempt to regroup following three straight losses.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":256792,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[4823,385,99],"class_list":["post-256791","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-new-york-rangers","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256791","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=256791"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256791\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/256792"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=256791"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=256791"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=256791"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}