NY Rangers Keep up Elite Special Teams Play Against Blues

The New York Rangers have created quite an edge on special teams against their opponents.

Nov 3, 2026; New York, New York, USA; St. Louis Blues center Mason McTavish (83) fights for the puck against New York Rangers center Mika Zibanejad (93) during the third period at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The 2026-27 NHL regular season has been a roller coaster ride for the New York Rangers.

They got off to a scorching hot start, going 6-2-0 out of the gate. But injuries eventually caught up to them, and the team looked worn down, laboring through an ugly 1-5-1 stretch. In their most recent game, the Rangers were able to get back into the win column, defeating the St. Louis Blues, 3-1.

No matter what the final results have been for New York through 16 games, one thing has remained constant: they are getting the job done on special teams, specifically on the penalty kill.

Last season, the Rangers were a middle-of-the-road team when it came to killing off penalties. They ranked 15th in the NHL, with a penalty kill rate of 79.92%. However, they were elite on the power play. Their 24.65% power-play rate was fifth in the league.

Rangers have been nails on penalty kill this season

Nov 3, 2026; New York, New York, USA; New York Rangers goaltender Dylan Garand (33) makes a save against St. Louis Blues left wing Jake Neighbours (63) during the second period at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Thus far this season, that script has been flipped. New York isn’t getting the job done nearly as often on the power play, with their 18.60% ranking 21st in the NHL. But they are more than making up for it with elite efficiency on the penalty kill.

Through 16 games, the Rangers have the best penalty kill in the League at 90.38%. They went 6-for-6 killing penalties against the Blues, which pushed them ahead of the Dallas Stars, who have a penalty kill rate of 90.00%, for first place in the NHL.

According to NHL.com, that is already the 11th time this season New York has registered a perfect kill. That puts them in a tie for second in the most perfect kills thus far this season.

52 power-play opportunities have occurred against the Rangers, which is the 11th most in the NHL, and they have allowed only five power-play goals against, which is tied with the Stars and Nashville Predators for the least in the League.

Scenes from a W 🖼️ pic.twitter.com/j46ZpNRyNr

— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) November 4, 2026

While the team’s defensive structure hasn’t always been on point, as head coach Mike Sullivan has spoken at length about how that has led to some issues for his goalies, the team has continually stepped up on the penalty kill.

Braden Schneider and Marcus Pettersson have come under fire for how they have performed overall thus far this season, but they deserve a lot of credit for anchoring the penalty kill lines. They have registered 45:10 and 40:43 time on ice, per Natural Stat Trick, thus far in penalty kill situations and are getting the job done.

As is Vladislav Gavrikov, who has logged 45:07 TOI. Will Cuylle has the most TOI of any of the forwards with 36:21, and he has scored a shorthanded goal to boot.