The Bizarro Rangers are thriving in defense-first system

Nine games into the season and the Rangers have established a template of success by becoming, well, by becoming Bizarro Rangers.

There is less flash and not as much dash, though Artemi Panarin might like to have a word about that. There is both attention to detail and patience but no shortcuts. The Rangers have a game plan and they are sticking to it. That apparently includes winning lots and lots of faceoffs.

But that’s not all there is it to it. Because the Blueshirts, 7-2 off a 5-0 road trip entering Thursday night’s match at the home-sweet-home Garden against the Hurricanes, still have Chris Kreider in front on the power play and they still have Adam Fox weaving magic and they still have Igor Shesterkin making game-saving stops and they still have Mika Zibanejad unleashing that one-timer.

But this is a group that is forging its own identity under new coach Peter Laviolette. It is not as if the head coach and his staff threw out the baby with the dirty bath water that stagnated during the playoff defeat to New Jersey. There’s something borrowed, something blue.

After all, that first power-play unit is getting more time than ever, Fox is with Ryan Lindgren, K’Andre Miller is paired with Jacob Trouba and Kreider and Zibanejad remain linemates. Change was not made for change’s sake.

But this group is doing its darndest to incorporate its high-end skill within a disciplined system that gives higher priority to preventing odd-man rushes than creating them. The risk-reward equation has been reformatted in the Blueshirts’ favor, though a well-oiled neutral-zone trap should be able to accomplish both objectives. The infamous trapping Devils of 1993-94 ranked second in the NHL in both goals against and goals scored.

When Laviolette’s system becomes more instinctive, the Rangers should generate open-ice and odd-man chances off counterattacks. Maybe breakouts will include stretch passes. That didn’t happen all that much through these first three weeks. Indeed, according to Natural Stat Trick, the Blueshirts rank 31st in the 32-team NHL in five-on-five scoring chances per 60:00; 29th in shots per 60:00; 28th in attempts per 60:00; and 27th in goals-scored per 60.

Meanwhile, they are first in the NHL in shots against per 60:00; second in scoring chances against per 60:00; and fifth in goals-against per 60 at five-on-five.

The Rangers?

Yes, the Rangers.

There are some inalienable strengths here. Panarin, apparently unencumbered by curly locks, playoff frustrations or expectations, has been at the top of his game, making plays, shooting the puck and avoiding unforced errors. He has four of the club’s 12 five-on-five goals, with linemate Alexis Lafreniere accounting for three.

(No other Ranger has more than one at five-on-five, while, get this, not one of the club’s centers — that would be Zibanejad, Fil Chytil, Vincent Trocheck and Nick Bonino — has scored at all at five-on-five.)

Nevertheless, they are thriving at 7-2.

They are thriving because of their work on the specialty teams, killing 17 of 18 power-play opportunities during the five-game sweep while going 7-for-18 on the power play. The Blueshirts are 11-for-32 overall with the man-advantage, their 34.4 percent second to the Devils’ 14-for-33, 42.4 percent.

The first unit has been even more than the sum of its elite parts, the Fox-Kreider-Panarin-Zibanejad-Trocheck quintet on for 10 of the club’s PPG’s while on the ice for 30:48 of the club’s 46:48 PP time. That accounts for 65.8 percent of power-play ice time.

Monday, when trailing 2-1 nearly midway through the third period, PP1 stayed on for the full 2:00 but did not score. When the Blueshirts got another opportunity four minutes later, PP1 hopped on again and tied the game off a Kreider deflection just 31 seconds later. This is a unit that is demanding and earning its time. The second unit will have to wait.

The Rangers have not won more than half of their draws since 2008-09, when they clocked in at 50.9 percent. That was the last time the Blueshirts ranked in the top half of the league at the dots, placing 15th out of 30 teams. Over the five seasons preceding this one, they ranked 30th out of 32 teams with an aggregate 47.2 percent at the dots.

But when they left the ice following Monday’s 2-1 victory in Winnipeg, the Rangers ranked third in the NHL at 54.5 percent with Trocheck third at 61.8 percent and Bonino 15th at 58.3 percent among players taking at least 75 draws.

Butch, who are these guys?

Except that Shesterkin has played very much to type and so has Jonathan Quick (if you’re talking about circa 2010-2016). The team built on the proposition that its goaltending will be superior has indeed played to that form.

Shesterkin’s overall numbers are somewhat pedestrian (.905 save percent, 2.56 GAA), but he has played to his Vezina level with games on the line. The Blueshirts were outshot 6-2 by the Canucks in OT and then outshot 5-1 by the Jets in overtime yet won both games.

Tuesday was Halloween. The players came dressed as Bizarro Rangers. You might want to order your action figures for the holidays, today.