AV will look to return to the Stanley Cup Final this year.
Today is the first day of the season for the Rangers, as they are in St. Louis to take on the Blues at 8pm tonight. The Rangers are doing so shorthanded, without top line center Derek Stepan, but they boast a team filled with incredible speed. They will use that speed to blow past defenders and generate offensive chances, both by dumping the puck in and by gaining the zone via carry in.
Despite the roster turnover, the Rangers kept the core intact, and managed to replace those that left with –mostly– kids from the system. The good news is that unlike last year, this team won’t go through the growing pains of a new coach and drastically new systems to learn. Let’s go over those systems.
Forecheck:
1-2-2 (conservative trap or moderate forecheck)
The Rangers work a moderately aggressive 1-2-2 forecheck, sending F1 deep to pressure the puck carrier, while F2 and F3 attempt to cut off the passing lane. F1’s job is to take away the center of the ice, driving the puck to the boards, where F2 can swoop in for a turnover. F3 takes away a passing lane to the center of the ice. If the puck leaves the zone, the quintet drops into a box+1 formation, taking away passing lanes.
The risk is that the weak side of the ice is left open, which is F3’s job to cut off that pass, which can lead to odd-man rushes if connected. The Rangers are pretty good on the forecheck, and more speed will only help force turnovers.
Late in the game, the Rangers will switch to a 2-3 forecheck, with two forwards high at the blue line, and both defenseman and a forward back at the red line to defend.
Defensive Zone:
I covered the defensive zone scheme when I broke down Martin St. Louis’ new responsibilities as a center. But to rehash, the Rangers play a strong side overload when the puck is above the goal line, and man coverage when the puck is below.
Powerplay:
As we learned last year, the Rangers alternate between a 1-3-1 (pictured above) and an umbrella powerplay. The 1-3-1 is designed to create four triangles for passing and one-timers. Dan Boyle will man the point here, looking to unload bombs from the point on a regular basis. The umbrella (pictured below), is played a little higher with two forwards down low. The pair of triangles up top is used to generate shots, while the forwards down low create screens and look for rebounds.
We will likely see all of the current top six on the powerplay, plus Boyle, and Ryan McDonagh. I’d assume the other two PP guys will rotate.
The Rangers will shift between these depending on PK schemes and puck location.
Penalty Kill:
Penalty kill is tough to gauge, but the Rangers will play a hybrid. We should primarily see a diamond, which has the best chance of springing someone like Carl Hagelin for a shorthanded chance. Depending on location and situation, they will alternated between a box as well, but those have significantly less of a chance of shorthanded opportunities.
The Rangers are blessed with a ton of forwards who can play on the PK (Stepan, MSL, Rick Nash, Dominic Moore, Mats Zuccarello, Carl Hagelin, Jesper Fast), so personnel shouldn’t be a problem.
The good thing this year is that the Rangers won’t, or shouldn’t, have those same defensive breakdowns that plagued them in October last year. That likely means Henrik Lundqvist won’t get off to his slow start either. The Rangers may struggle out of the gate without Stepan, but this is a playoff team.
Share:
More About:Hockey Tactics