Interesting note from the NY Post paywall newsletter:
How to evaluate a scoreless draw
Zibanejad made a fair point in response to questions about his line’s struggles on offense, noting he, Kreider and Filip Chytil have played Aleksander Barkov’s line to a 0-0 draw during their shared minutes in the series.
The Panthers have generated the majority of chances in those crucial minutes: The Rangers account for just 35.71 percent of expected goals over 23:06 when Zibanejad and Barkov have shared the ice at five-on-five.
But there’s something to be said for the fact that the scoresheet itself has been even, though the Rangers of course want better than that.
“It’s a fine balance,” Zibanejad said. “Beause it’s good to be responsible defensively. When you don’t score, it’s not a good thing offensively. You’re playing against a guy that can do both and a line can do both. So I think at the end of the day, as long as you get the wins, it’s obviously on an individual standpoint, you want to do whatever you can to play your best game, to contribute. But some games, at times, you just have to be able to value and more see what the scenarios in the game or the shifts within the game, how they are.
“We know their line, and obviously Barkov won the Selke [Trophy], too. So that part of his game obviously makes it harder for us, but at the same time, he’s been scoring at a pretty high rate, too. For us, we’re not trying to go out there and play 0-0, but at the same time, if we don’t get the offense that we want and expect, then we have to make sure that we have a defensive responsibility to be accountable to as well.
“Because of that, the suggestion [that] we just try to go more on the offensive track and shoot for offense, I don’t know if that’s gonna be the best for us.”
