The Rangers return from a successful west coast swing to a potential playoff clinching game tonight. The Rangers can clinch a spot with a point tonight against the Ottawa Senators. They can also clinch if the Leafs and Devils lose tonight in any fashion. The team probably doesn’t want to back into the playoffs, so beating an Ottawa team that can’t seem to play defense would be nice.
The Sens forechecking strategy is a bit complex, as they are a hybrid forechecking/lock team. When they are trailing or tied, they’ll send two or three guys after the puck in a 2-1-2 formation. When they are ahead though, they lock it up with a 1-1-3 forecheck, a variation of the 2-3 lock. They are an overload/zone defense team depending on puck location. On special teams, they run a standard umbrella power play, but run a hybrid PK (box, diamond, wedge+1) depending on puck location and opposition formation.
Rangers Lineup:
Offense
Carl Hagelin–Derek Stepan–Rick Nash
Brian Boyle–Brad Richards–Martin St. Louis
Benoit Pouliot–Derick Brassard–Mats Zuccarello
Dan Carcillo–Dominic Moore–Derek Dorsett
Defense
John Moore–Dan Girardi
Marc Staal–Anton Stralman
Raphael Diaz–Kevin Klein
Henrik Lundqvist gets the start.
Scratches/Injuries: Chris Kreider (hand), Ryan McDonagh (shoulder), Ryan Haggerty (healthy), Justin Falk (healthy)
Game time is 7pm on MSG. Don’t forget to check out our Rangers Tickets link for deals to attend games.
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