Zibanejad’s 15.7 S% is the third-highest among all Rangers skaters this season. It’s part of the reason he also leads the team in points (17 in 16 games) and goals (8). Of those eight goals, five have come on the man advantage—a team-leading stat—where he and Kevin Shattenkirk have become a formidable duo. Just ahead of Zibanejad sits his linemate, Pavel Buchnevich (16.2 S%), who himself has gone on a tear over this four-game stretch registering two goals and four points. Together, along with Chris Kreider, the three make up for New York’s most lethal line, accounting for more than 35% of the goals scored by Rangers this season (19 of 52).
But Zibanejad and Buchnevich’s individual shooting percentages are running high. Higher than average, that is. In the case of Zibanejad, a career 10.9% shooter, it’s running extremely high. While Buchnevich, by comparison, shot at 14.5% last year in limited usage.
Where Buchnevich and Zibanejad are leading the charge, Nash and Vesey are the team caboose. Vesey’s 6.1 S% is second worst among the Rangers’ regular skaters (those who’ve played in at least ten games) and is second only to the least likely candidate to have the team’s worst conversion rate in Rick Nash, who is firing at a miserable, career-worst 5.4%.
Since he was acquired from Columbus in 2012, Nash’s 130 goals are the most of any Ranger. The next closest is Chris Kreider with 94. But Nash has gone ice cold this season, performing significantly worse than he did two years ago when he shot at 8.2% for the year and finished the 2015-16 campaign—his worst goal-scoring year since his rookie season—with just 15 goals. But perhaps things are starting to look up. He did have a goal and an assist in the win against the Florida Panthers on November 4th, and has two goals in his last five games. The law of averages does suggest he’s unlikely to remain this low given his career average of 12.7%, so the sooner he regresses to the mean the better.
Read more