NHL scores 2016: Despite all the odds, the Rangers just keep on scoring

I think maybe I owe the New York Rangers a bit of an apology. A lot of people probably do, considering many wrote them off even before the season began, but I’ll say it: I was wrong about the Rangers.

In case you haven’t been paying attention, the Rangers have been dominant through the first 20 games of the season. They’re one point behind the Canadiens — yes, the Montreal team that was unbeaten in eight straight in regulation — for the league’s best team. New York is leading the NHL in goals for by a country mile, 81 to next-best Philadelphia and Tampa Bay’s 62.

They’re doing all that, and they’re the NHL’s oldest team at 28.227 years old on average. We’ve written before on the well-known scoring adage, that NHL scoring generally drops after the age of 30. I, like many others, fell into a trap. We assumed the Rangers would rely too heavily on the veterans and that their young players wouldn’t thrive, so we discounted them.

But no more! For starters, the Rangers are getting a lot of goal scoring. A lot of it. So much so that their league’s best shooting percentage of 13.7 will have to go down. But, that won’t take away the fact that Michael Grabner is in the midst of a seaming resurgence. Or that highly sought-after rookie Jimmy Vesey has made an immediate impact on the ice. And that their under-25 core in J.T. Miller, Kevin Hayes, and Mika Zibanejad is hitting its stride.

The Rangers still have problems, though. Ones that could see them fall back to earth. Zibanejad will be out four to six weeks with a broken fibula. That shooting percentage is destined to recede back to sustainable levels. And their possession numbers aren’t great either: fourth-worst in the league at 47.11 percent, according to Corsica.

Yet, none of that was a problem in the Rangers’ comeback victory over the Penguins. How can it be when every time they have the puck, it seems to go in the opposite net?

Sabres 4, Flames 2
Rangers 5, Penguins 2
Avalanche 3, Blue Jackets 2 (OT)
Predators 3, Lightning 1
Stars 3, Wild 2 (OT)
Oilers 5, Blackhawks 0
Sharks 4, Devils 0

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1. Jake Guentzel will never outlive the Mario Lemieux comparisons

Sorry kid. But that’s what happens when you score your first NHL goal on the first shot of your very first shift in the big leagues.

Oh, and he scored his second career NHL goal 12 minutes later! Not even Mario did that in his first NHL game.

2. P.K. Subban is back, ladies and gentlemen

The Predators defenseman had a pair of goals in Nashville’s 3-1 win over the Lightning. Now with five points in his last three games, Subban may have finally found his groove in a new system with Nashville.

Monday was Subban’s first multi-goal game in Nashville as well. Hopefully a sign of good things to come for the Nashville defenseman.

3. Columbus continues to fight

The Blue Jackets had their four-game win streak snapped in overtime. Yet, the only reason Columbus had a fighting chance against the Avalanche was thanks to some late-game heroics to tie the match at 2-2 in the dying seconds. Cam Atkinson tallied his second goal of the evening with seven seconds to play to get the Blue Jackets a point they no-doubt deserved.

For the record, the Blue Jackets only have four regulation losses in 17 games. That’s the second-fewest in the NHL behind Montreal.

Impact Moment

The Predators and Lightning had a bit of a tussle, and Tampa Bay’s J.T. Brown was right in the mix. First, the set up to the brawl happened when Brown took out Roman Josi on a hit.

Tensions flared later when, after getting themselves a 3-0 lead, Ryan Ellis smoked Brown on a hit. The Tampa Bay forward responded by immediately whaling on Ellis, which sparked a huge gathering.

Ellis and Brown each received minor penalties for interference and roughing, respectively. A 10-minute game misconduct penalty was tacked onto Ellis while Brown got a misconduct penalty.

Connor McDavid is atop the NHL now in scoring with 24 points after a two-assist evening in the Oilers’ 5-0 win against the Blackhawks.