Rangers' work-in-progress: Getting better in four-on-four situations

GREENBURGH — It may be a relatively small part of the game, and a small sample size, but small details matter. And this is one detail the Rangers need to clean up.

As they faced the Ottawa Senators at Madison Square Garden on Friday night, attempting to bounce back from their dreadful 5-3 loss in Washington, one of the things coach Peter Laviolette was hoping to turn around was the lack of success his team has had in four-on-four situations.

“That’s something that we look at a lot,’’ Laviolette said after the Rangers’ short morning skate on Friday. “We watch video, we practice it, we review it. And last year, those numbers, I think, were in our favor. And this year they’re not. So we’ve got to twist that around.’’

Four-on-four play was a strength of the Rangers on the way to winning the Presidents’ Trophy last season. They outscored opponents 6-3 in four-on-four situations, and their goals scored were tied for second-most in the league. Entering Friday, they have been outscored 3-1 in their first nine games in four-on-four play.

“We obviously want to be better. We want to create more [and] obviously outscore the opponent,’’ said Mika Zibanejad, who plays on all special teams, including four-on-four. “It’s something we don’t talk about every day, but we talk about it. We talked about it last year. It’s just maybe [we need to be] executing a little bit better.’’

This season, the Rangers are off to a good start in five-on-five play. They entered Friday outscoring their opponents 24-13 in those situations in the first nine games.

Zibanejad explained that four-on-four play differs from five-on-five because with two fewer players on the ice, there is more ice to navigate. And that changes how you do things.

“I mean, you’ve got more space,’’ he said. “The way you pressure, I guess four-on-four leaves you a little bit more room. You see it even more . . . when it goes to three-on-three. You don’t really go forecheck or pressure; it becomes stay in your shape and try to do something, and then eventually you’ll win the puck back and you’ll go the other way.

“You’re waiting for a breakdown somewhere, and then all of a sudden, you’ve got a two-on-one or a three-on-two, or even a breakaway.’’

Neither Zibanejad nor Laviolette was ready to overreact to the slow start at four-on-four. Laviolette took heart in the fact that in the game against Washington, after the Rangers allowed their third four-on-four goal of the season, they scored their first on the very next shift. Filip Chytil deflected in a feed from rookie Victor Mancini for his fourth goal of the season, pulling the Rangers within 4-3.

“[After] giving up the goal the other night, it was nice to come back off the same type of goal the other way,’’ Laviolette said. “That was a little bit deflating [allowing Aliaksei Protas’ goal to go down 4-2], but to get that energy back right away from it I thought was good.

“We’ve got to be better,’’ he added. “We were good last year at those situations.’’

Notes & quotes: F Jonny Brodzinski, entering the lineup in place of Matt Rempe, was the only change on Friday from the group that faced Washington. D Zac Jones was scratched for the second straight game and the fifth time in six games . . . After sitting out his 10th game on Friday night, forward Jimmy Vesey is eligible to come off long-term injured reserve for the Rangers’ next game on Sunday afternoon at home against the Islanders. Vesey, sidelined with a lower-body injury suffered in training camp, has been practicing with the team since Oct. 24. With 22 players on their roster, the Rangers do not have to send someone down to Hartford to make room for Vesey, but they likely won’t keep Rempe around if he isn’t playing regularly. Rempe has played in only three of the team’s 10 games.

By Colin Stephenson

colin.stephenson@newsday.comColinSNewsday

Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.