The New York Rangers will be wearing their home whites tonight when the Pittsburgh Penguins come to town, and it will be a heavily depleted Penguins team that comes to town. The Pens will be without three of their top five scorers (Hornqvist, Kunitz, Letang), another top-four defenseman (Maata), and another top-six winger (Dupuis). If there was ever a time to beat down on a division leader, now’s the time. This is a big game for the Rangers, who need points.
The Penguins are playing a slightly different system under Mike Johnston than it did under Bylsma. Johnston has Pittsburgh running a stacked 1-2-2 forecheck, which is what AV runs. Everyone attacks and breaks-out in packs. Short, quick passes and attacking the blueline with speed is preferred over dump and chase hockey and home run passes. Pretty much everyone is playing this way now. Not much has changed in the DZ. They still run a basic zone defense, a 1-3-1 power play and a hybrid penalty kill depending on puck location. It’s a copy cat league kids.
Rangers lineup:
Rick Nash–Derick Brassard–Mats Zuccarello
Carl Hagelin-Derek Stepan–Martin St. Louis
J.T. Miller-Kevin Hayes–Lee Stempniak
Tanner Glass-Dominic Moore–Jesper Fast
Ryan McDonagh–Dan Girardi
Marc Staal–Dan Boyle
John Moore-Kevin Klein
Cam Talbot gets the start.
Scratches/Injuries: Chris Kreider (neck), Matt Hunwick (healthy) Anthony Duclair (healthy)
As always, be sure to check out our ticket link if you’re looking for tickets to a game.
Game time is 7:00pm on MSG.
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