On small samples, the eye test, stats and narratives

www.bluelinestation.comIt has been a strange start to the young season for the New York Rangers. It has been wildly varied in fan and media attitudes toward the talent level, personnel and performance of the team. I have been thinking more and more recently about the intersection between many of these concepts, and I’m going to try to keep my thoughts as organized as possible, so they don’t devolve into a jumbled mess.

I’m going to start with the game against the Capitals on Tuesday night. Both the eye test and the advanced statistics tell us that the Rangers were more or less dominated for large stretches of that game. The tremendous play of Henrik Lundqvist and the relatively poor play of…