The Wraparound: Gallant’s first Rangers run looks a lot like Golden Knights debut

When you paint in broad strokes, the Rangers’ first season under Gerard Gallant sure looks a lot like the Golden Knights’ smash-success debut campaign. Yes, that’s a really good thing — for Gallant, and for the Rangers.

Just think of some of the similarities:

Steve Yzerman puts Red Wings teammate Gerard Gallant in a headlock as they leave a Detroit bar in 1988: pic.twitter.com/Sc6ObBkK5x

— SI Vault (@si_vault) November 21, 2014

Finally, the first-season Golden Knights and the first-Gallant-season Rangers both inspired people to wonder “Just how real are these successes?”

It would be silly to say that the 2017-18 Golden Knights enjoyed nothing but luck.

They weren’t even in the top five in PDO, a stat that combines save percentage and shooting percentage to give a crude look a teams who were lucky in a way that may not be sustainable. At one point, their goalies were only slightly safer than Spinal Tap drummers.

Yet, right from the start, the Golden Knights found ways to win. At times, that meant James Neal scoring game-winning goals. If you want one player to symbolize Vegas’ early mix of luck and skill, consider William Karlsson. In two previous seasons with the Blue Jackets, Karlsson played 81 games apiece, and scored 20 and 25 points. In his first Golden Knights season, Karlsson scored 43 goals and 79 points, riding an unsustainable 23.4 shooting percentage.

Were the Golden Knights bad during their first season? No, they just weren’t necessarily the dominant group you’d expect to tear its way to a Stanley Cup Final. Glance at Evolving Hockey’s Team RAPM chart from that first season:

That said, it’s a testament to Gallant and other Golden Knights front office members just how competent they were, right off the bat.

Now