Early Stats Support That NY Rangers' Offense Has Improved

The New York Rangers have had a strong start to the season through their first 12 games. Now, with expectations starting to change slightly for the franchise, they will be hoping to continue to perform well. 

Even though the Rangers might have lost 5-4 to the Maple Leafs on Thursday night, that doesn’t take away from what they have been able to accomplish so far this year. 

New York is a much-improved team compared to last season, and they certainly have proven that they won’t be the worst team in the Eastern Conference. During the summer, there was a major focus on trying to get younger and improve. With one of the youngest rosters in the NHL, that has been accomplished. 

Furthermore, one of the reasons for the improvements has been that their offense has been playing at a much higher level compared to last season. 

Rangers’ Offense Has Improved

Following their 5-4 loss to the Maple Leafs, the Rangers will certainly have a bad taste in their mouth after not being able to secure a point in that one. However, when looking at the big picture, this is still a team that has improved quite a bit, and a major reason why has been their offense. 

Even though Dylan Garand is playing well, New York is going to have to help out their young goalie. This summer, the team focused on making improvements, and those moves have helped result in them being 7-4-1 through 12 games. 

After the four-goal performance on Thursday night, the Rangers are now tied for the league lead in games with at least four goals scored, according to NHL.com. Furthermore, with 37 goals over this season, they are ranked seventh in the league in that category. 

While a lot of that damage has come at home, where the Rangers are still a perfect 6-0, it was good to see a bit of an offensive outburst on the road in the loss to the Maple Leafs. 

When looking at the offense, there has been some good balance to the unit as well. The emergence of Alexis Lafreniere as one of the best goal scorers in the league so far this season has helped, but this is a unit that overall has improved quite a bit. 

There is still reason to believe that this group can get even better, with both Pavel Dorofeyev and the power play unit not hitting their stride just yet. When that happens, New York could become dangerous.