The New York Rangers are winners of four in a row and 12 of their last thirteen. They won their last two against Anaheim and Los Angeles, and finish up this west coast swing in San Jose. The Sharks are a good team that should make the playoffs, but they’ve been struggling a bit of late (5-4-1 in their last ten). This year started with a 7-2 drubbing at the hands of St. Louis, and it was a repeat performance in their last game.
A showdown with the Islanders awaits the Rangers when they return, and after two strong wins against playoff teams, this game has trap game written all over it. That’s not to say San Jose is bad, but the Rangers don’t want to get caught looking ahead to Tuesday’s game. The Rangers are in a comfortable position, but they need to win their games in hand on the Isles, Penguins, and Caps.
What have they done lately?
Well, San Jose has been playing .500 hockey lately, including a pair of 7-2 losses to St. Louis. They’ve been pretty ugly during that stretch too, putting up poor possession numbers around 45%:
Their PDO sits around league average, so it’s not necessarily bad luck that’s affecting them. It’s a combination of poor puck possession play and giving up more scoring chances than they allow:
Basically the Sharks have been playing poor defensively, but are still a very talented team. This is a team that can punish the Rangers if they sleepwalk through the game.
Sharks Systems:
On the ice, coach Todd McLellan has his Sharks mostly running an aggressive 2-1-2 forecheck, but will mix in some 1-2-2 depending on game situation. In the defensive zone schemes they overload the boards and play zone defense when the puck is at the points or down low. The power play is a 1-3-1 and their penalty kill formations are hybrid (depends on puck location/opposition setup).
Rangers lineup:
Rick Nash–Derick Brassard–Mats Zuccarello
Chris Kreider–Derek Stepan–Martin St. Louis
Carl Hagelin–Kevin Hayes–Jesper Fast
J.T. Miller–Dominic Moore–Lee Stempniak
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 10pm on MSG.
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