February Scoring Chance Summaries

February could not have ended sooner for the New York Rangers, as they begged, borrowed, and stole just enough goals (29) to get 9 out of a possible 24 points. As I pointed out last week, the Rangers saw a downturn in the amount of scoring chances they got for most of the month. However, they still managed to out chance their opponents 182-160, for 53.2%. This is a credit to the defense, and goaltenders that allowed just 30 goals themselves. With new addition Bryan McCabe in the fold, we can only hope that the March stretch drive produces some more offense.

Here's the definition again, as a refresher and for those just joining the Banter.

A scoring chance is defined as a clear play directed toward the opposing net from a dangerous scoring area - loosely defined as the top of the circle in and inside the faceoff dots, though sometimes slightly more generous than that depending on the amount of immediately-preceding puck movement or screens in front of the net. Blocked shots are generally not included, but missed shots are. A player is awarded a scoring chance anytime he is on the ice and someone from either team has a chance to score. He is awarded a "chance for" if someone on his team has a chance to score and a "chance against" if the opposing team has a chance to score.

The project is made possible courtesy of Vic Ferrari, who gave us the script that keeps this project relatively simple.

The summaries for previous months can be found by following their respective links:

October, November, December, and January.

February data, including the Kings game, after the jump.

As we're getting towards year end, I've included the season totals alongside for some comparison.  Februrary was a low event month, with around 5 fewer chances at even strength per 60.  The defense was especially stingy, with just 12 chances against at ES and 28 per 60 (less than 1 per minute) against shorthanded.   Speaking of that defense:

*Highlighted cells indictate high (green) and low (red) players for the rate stats. EV minimum of 100 minutes, PP and SH 20 minutes for the month. EV minimum 400 minutes, PP and SH minimum 50 minutes

The month was a good one for everyone not named Steve Eminger, who was the only player with a negative differential. It was especially good for Girardi, who had easily his best month of the season, though it still was not enough to pull his overall number down to something comparable to the rest of the defense. He does get to lean on the excuse that he's getting the hardest assignments on the team along with Staal, but he's still been the most prone to making Lundqvist's job difficult.

The best defense pair, as has been the trend since the LD half arrived, has been Ryan McDonagh and Mike Sauer. Whether it's at even strength or shorthanded, one of the two is leading the way. Even though neither is known for their offense to date, they still have the highest chance numbers at even strength, a credit to their ability to put out a threat quickly and get the puck moving again in the right direction for the forwards.

*Highlighted cells indictate high (green) and low (red) players for the rate stats. EV minimum of 100 minutes, PP and SH 20 minutes for the month. EV minimum 400 minutes, PP and SH minimum 50 minutes

Resident unknown comic Dig Deep had an excellent piece on Derek Stepan yesterday, and this just reinforces how good he's been at even strength. He led the team for the month, and leads for the year, although linemates Mats Zuccarello and Wojtek Wolski just needs the ice time to catch up. The biggest news of the month, however, has been the dropoff in the top line of Brandon Dubinsky, Artem Anisimov, and Ryan Callahan. While the trio is 1-2-3 in competition this year, they showed this month the wear and tear that can take. Callahan has at least been converting his chances, which helps soften the blow. Nonetheless, all need to be better for this team to get the wins it needs down the stretch.

The first two games of March have looked like a continuation of what we see here, with the exception of McCabe's superior PP skills. For all of our sakes, let's hope these are the last games that follow this trend.