Photo: AP

Photo: AP

Tonight’s game is meaningless for the Rangers. They have locked up the #2 seed in the Metropolitan Division, and will likely play Philadelphia in the first round of the playoffs. None of Henrik Lundqvist, Dan Girardi, Martin St. Louis, or Ryan McDonagh (despite being 100%) will play tonight, as the Rangers are resting their vets for the playoffs. Justin Falk and Dan Carcillo will play in place of Girardi and MSL, and Cam Talbot will get the start tonight.

Under Michel Therrien, the Canadiens play a 1-2-2 forecheck, but do use a 2-1-2 style from time to time based on the score and puck location. Though this team prefers to want to play passive and clog up the neutral zone. Like the Rangers, Montreal’s defensive zone system is to overload when the puck is along the boards and collapse around the slot when the puck is behind the net.

What’s interesting is that Therrien has said in the past that they overload the boards because of their team size and speed (note: small and fast). On special teams, the Habs play your standard umbrella powerplayOn the penalty kill, they rotate between a diamond force and a box depending on puck location. They really look to pressure the opposition all over the ice when shorthanded.

Rangers Lineup (lineup confirmed, lines unconfirmed):

Offense

Dan Carcillo-Derek Stepan-Rick Nash
Carl Hagelin-Brad Richards-Jesper Fast
Benoit Pouliot-Derick Brassard-Mats Zuccarello
Brian Boyle-Dominic Moore-Derek Dorsett

Defense

Marc Staal-Anton Stralman
Raphael Diaz-Kevin Klein
John Moore-Justin Falk

Cam Talbot gets the start.

Scratches/Injuries: Chris Kreider (hand), Ryan McDonagh (healthy), Ryan Haggerty (healthy), Dan Girardi (healthy), Martin St. Louis(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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