With the New York Rangers being among the surprises of the National Hockey League season thus far, there are several ways to look at and analyze how exactly the team is so exceeding expectations.
The big picture is that entering a Monday game following Thanksgiving weekend against the Ottawa Senators, the Rangers are in the thick of the playoff picture, occupying fourth place in the Metropolitan Division with 26 points, just outside the playoffs if they started today. This standing in the meat of the league’s curve owes mostly in part to a trio of reasons, home-field advantage, a recent win streak, and shootout success.