Rangers finally overcome faceoff shortcomings with impressive turnaround
NY Post
TAMPA, Fla. — The Rangers were have-nots at the dots for 14 seasons, but they’ve done an about-face in this important area.
The team sits in first place in the Metropolitan Division as it heads to Pittsburgh for a Saturday matinee with the Penguins, followed by a Sunday afternoon date with the Islanders at the Garden.
While Artemi Panarin’s 88 points, top-tier goaltending from Igor Shesterkin and Jonathan Quick and exquisite special teams units are responsible for much of that success, the Rangers are saving some of the credit for the turnaround on faceoffs.
The Blueshirts enter Saturday ranked fifth in the NHL with a faceoff winning percentage of 52.8 percent.
While that doesn’t sound like cause for a parade, it’s better than where they’ve been.
From the 2009-10 season on, the Blueshirts have not ranked higher than 14th in the league in any season, and they’ve been under 50 percent in each of those campaigns except for 2012-13, when they posted a statistically improbable 1,410 wins and 1,410 losses.
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