Power play finds a groove

The Rangers power play is starting to hit a stride at the right time, but it can’t stand alone.

Having scored with the manadvantage in each of their last five games, including Thursday night’s 4-1 loss to the Flyers at the Garden, the Blueshirts have now capitalized on seven of their last 16 power-play opportunities.

As strong as the top unit has been, the same players the Rangers rely on for offense haven’t delivered at five-onfive lately or on a consistent basis this season. The Blueshirts’ last fiveon-five goal was in the third period of the 5-2 win over the Canadiens this past Sunday.

“I thought one line was able to generate, they were able to stay in the offensive zone and create, but as a team, as a whole, we didn’t generate enough,” head coach Peter Laviolette said. “We didn’t get to the hard areas. They were quick to defend. We weren’t quicker. They were a little heavier in the battle, we weren’t heavy enough. Offense was not where we wanted it to be.”

Artemi Panarin scored the Rangers’ lone goal of the night on the power play at the 18:19 mark of the first period, which evened the score at one-all heading into the first intermission.

Chris Kreider, who has a team-leading 18 power-play goals on the season, had a fourgame streak with a man-advantage tally snapped.

Matt Rempe was a healthy scratch for the second game in a row and the sixth time in the last eight games, along with defensemen Zac Jones and Chad Ruhwedel.

While Jones has sat out of four of the last five, Ruhwedel hasn’t played since a five-game stretch from March 19-28.

Adam Fox was named the winner of the team’s Rod Gilbert “Mr. Ranger” award, given to the player “who best honors Rod’s legacy by exemplifying leadership qualities both on and off the ice, and making a significant humanitarian contribution to his community.”