The Rangers have led for all 150+ minutes of this Stanley Cup, but yet find themselves in a 2-0 hole coming home to MSG. They will need to find a way to hold on to two-goal leads, and to find a way to put the Kings away when they do have these leads. This is a must win game.
Daryl Sutter has the Kings playing a system similar to that of John Tortorella’s Rangers. They generally run an aggressive overload 2-1-2 forecheck (forecheckers attack the same side of the ice) and they play a 2-1-2 zone defense off the wall (two guys take the hit zone, one takes the support zone, two have the slot). Once the puck moves up high, depending on the matchup, they’ll attack the blue line or collapse their forwards. They play a hybrid penalty kill, and a 1-3-1/modified umbrella on the powerplay.
Kevin did a complete preview and breakdown of this series here. Justin looked at Jonathan Quick and some deficiencies in his game here.
Rangers Lines:
Forwards
Chris Kreider–Derek Stepan–Rick Nash
Carl Hagelin–Brad Richards–Martin St. Louis
Benoit Pouliot–Derick Brassard–Mats Zuccarello
Brian Boyle–Dominic Moore–Derek Dorsett
Defense
Ryan McDonagh–Dan Girardi
Marc Staal–Anton Stralman
John Moore–Kevin Klein
Henrik Lundqvist gets the start.
Scratches/Injuries: J.T. Miller (healthy), Justin Falk (healthy), Dan Carcillo (suspension), Raphael Diaz (healthy)
Game time is 8pm on NBCSN. Don’t forget to check out our Rangers Tickets link for deals to attend games.
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