The New York Rangers are 2-0 in 2015 and winners of 10 of their last 11 games. All that will be tested tonight and throughout the month of January, as the cupcake part of the schedule has ended and the Rangers are taking on some of the best teams in the league. Tonight they face the NHL’s best team in Anaheim, who are also 2-0 in 2015.
One of the more interesting aspects of this matchup is that despite holding a league-high 58 points, Anaheim has just a +5 goal differential. They’ve scored just two more goals than the Rangers in five (!!) more games. The Rangers have allowed a whopping 20 (!!!!) fewer goals than the Ducks as well. All things considered, I honestly have no idea how the Ducks have that many wins, or how they are 73-30 in one-goal games since 2009-2010, including 19-0-6 this season. You would expect the ball to drop on that record, but this is over 5+ seasons!
What have they done lately?
The Ducks are 6-3-1 in their last ten games. They’ve done it with dominant possession as well, approaching 58% on their rolling five-game average. Over the course of the season, they are slightly about 50%, but they’ve been on a roll lately:
As for their PDO, they sit at 100 in their rolling five-game average and for the season. So the Rangers aren’t catching this team on a hot streak or a cold streak, although their luck seems to have come back to league average after a hot November:
Anaheim’s Systems:
Bruce Boudreau’s Ducks employ an aggressive 1-2-2 forecheck. They are not afraid to get the D involved in the rush and will look to fly the zone early if there’s a chance for a break. Once they get a late lead, the Ducks tend to sit back use their 1-2-2 more conservatively. Overall, this is comparable to AV’s system.
They are moderately aggressive when it comes to defensive zone schemes sending a forward to challenge the points while everyone else collapses in the zone and overload the half boards. Their powerplay strategy is a 1-3-1. Their penalty kill formation is generally a diamond force, which sends a player high to challenge the point.
Rangers lineup:
Rick Nash–Derick Brassard–Mats Zuccarello
Chris Kreider–Derek Stepan–Martin St. Louis
Carl Hagelin–Kevin Hayes–Lee Stempniak
J.T. Miller–Dominic Moore–Jesper Fast
Ryan McDonagh–Dan Girardi
Marc Staal–Dan Boyle
John Moore–Kevin Klein
Henrik Lundqvist is in net tonight.
Scratches/Injuries: Tanner Glass (healthy), Matt Hunwick (healthy)
Be sure to check out our ticket link if you’re looking for tickets to the game.
Game time is 10:30pm on MSG.
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