For the Rangers, both the number of power-play goals and their penalty-killing efforts are trending up.
But the majority of the minutes in the NHL is spent not with special teams on the ice, but with both clubs at even strength, predominately five-on-five, and the Rangers, who play the Bruins at 8 p.m. Wednesday at Madison Square Garden, are still trying to improve that important element of the game.
The Rangers (7-7-2) entered with 15 power-play goals and one empty-netter out of their 52 goals, so 36, or 69.2 percent, have come at even strength. The Blueshirts had no shorthanded goals through 16 games.