When he was hired last June, the New York Rangers highlighted Gerard Gallant’s past success as a coach.
He was in charge of a team in reconstruction, which was struggling to define itself.
The veteran coach led Florida to the Atlantic Division title in 2016, Vegas to the Stanley Cup Final in the club’s first season in 2018, and Team Canada from a 0-3 start to a gold medal. gold at the world championship last year.
In his first season in New York, Gallant led the Rangers to a second-place finish in the Metropolitan. New York takes on the Pittsburgh Penguins starting Tuesday at Madison Square Garden.
“I knew we had talent but also that it was a young team,” said Gallant. We just wanted to take a step. I didn’t know if we were going to finish first or be in a position to make the playoffs.
“It went very well and we are in good shape. We have a good team that is ready to take off. »
Rangers finished with 52 wins, tying the 1993-94 edition (cup champions) for the second most wins in team history.
A season ago, they were 27-23-6 under David Quinn.
The Rangers have had success this season thanks to a well distributed attack, opportunism, a solid defense and also, in many cases, excellence in net.
Chris Kreider delivered an MVP season with 52 goals, including a team-high 26 on the power play.
Artemi Panarin had 96 points including 74 assists, the third most in team history.
With Mika Zibanejad (81 points) and Adam Fox (74), Rangers have four players with at least 70 points.
Only Carolina, the Metropolitan champion, did better than the Rangers’ 2.49 goals against per game. Igor Shesterkin led the league with an average of 2.07.
The emphasis on defense has also made forwards more involved in this aspect of the game.
“I think (Gallant) is precise and consistent about that,” forward Ryan Strome said. It’s nothing strange, it’s simplicity. The key is to adhere to it. »
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