DANGER! DANGER! High Danger Shots

[image type=”circle” float=”none” info_place=”bottom” info_trigger=”hover” src=”1400″ alt=”” href=”” title=”” info_content=”Credit: Seth Weing/AP” lightbox_caption=”” id=”” class=”aligncenter” style=””][text_output]The New York Rangers are doing their best impression of Jekyll and Hyde this season when it comes to the defensive side of the game. Sometimes you see them play really sound defensively, or there are games where you see Auston Matthews left alone in front, giving him the time, and the ability to quickly snipe one past Henrik Lundqvist like he did Saturday night.

One stat I really like to stare at a lot, and this is where my mind explodes, is the high danger shots, shots usually found right at the bottom of the slot line. A high danger shot attempt is one where a goalie’s reaction time is very limited, next to none in terms of having time to set up properly to make a big save.

It’s also what I like to call, how most of the Rangers goals against are scored on them.

When you look at the Rangers, on the offensive side of things, they really like to generate chances there. According to Natural Stat Trick, who last updated this stat after the games on December 23. The Rangers are ranked first in the NHL with 352 chances in the high danger area, converting on 47 of those chances (this makes them second in the league). They have a shooting percentage of 13.35%, which sits them at ninth.

Defensively, the Rangers have given up 354 chances in the high danger area, sitting them at fourth overall (Washington leads this stat with 372. We’ve all see how bad they’ve been defensively).

Giving a proper goalie breakdown, Henrik Lundqvist has seen 283 high danger chances against him this year, giving up 28 goals with a save percentage of 84.57% (stick tap to Corsica). Ondrej Pavelec has seen 71 high danger chances against him, giving up 11 goals with a save percentage of 72.97% (Corsica, again). For context, Corey Crawford currently leads the NHL in high danger save percentage among goalies with at least 600 minutes of ice time at 85.93%, while Maxime Legace brings up the rear at 66.67%.

The lack of proper setup and for a goalie to make these saves on a consistent basis, will tire a goalie out drastically. They always have to be on edge, waiting for something to happen. The Rangers, especially when Henrik Lundqvist is out on the ice, seemingly seems to have 2 to 3 spectacular saves per game, because the Rangers defensive scheme seemingly allows opposing players to easily get into the high danger areas.

The Rangers have always relied on Lundqvist. Where he goes, the Rangers go. The issue with him always facing high danger shots, and the amount of shots he faces determines how good he will be the rest of the season. In 2015-2016, the year the Rangers got eliminated in the first round rather easily against Pittsburgh, he faced 626 high danger shots, the most he’s faced since the 2010-2011 season where he faced 613.

He has faced 600 or more high danger attempts three times in his career, and with the rate the Rangers are playing this year, he could add a fourth season with that rate.

The Rangers are going to score goals, the Rangers are going to be scoring a lot of their goals, from the slot line or below, just the way they’ve played, and really the only way the Rangers have been successful at scoring for the entire Alain Vigneault era of Rangers hockey.

The Rangers have other things that don’t make sense that will catch up to them eventually, be on the lookout from me about that soon but for now, the Rangers and their run and gun style mentality. The neglect of the defensive aspect of the game, will slowly tire a goaltender out. Luckily for us, we don’t have an average goalie. We have Henrik Lundqvist. So good luck tiring him out.[/text_output]