Tonight, the New York Rangers look to extend their winning streak to six games –and sweep the season series against the Chicago Blackhawks– tonight at MSG when the Hawks come to town. The Rangers defeated the Hawks 1-0 just five games ago, in overtime, thanks largely to Cam Talbot’s 29 saves.
The Hawks are the first game in a run that sees the Rangers play seven of eight games against teams in the playoffs or fighting for the playoffs. That run includes the Hawks, Ducks, Kings, Senators, Bruins, and Capitals. This comes on the heels of their recent run of five in a row against playoff teams, a stretch in which they went 4-0-1 to calm even the most vocal critics.
While the Rangers have a sizable lead on the Islanders for the Metro Division crown, they need to continue banking points to ensure they have home ice advantage. This current run will also go a long way in telling us if the Rangers can indeed skate with the teams in the West and deal with the physicality of the teams in the East.
What have they done lately?
The Hawks have been the model of consistency for a few years now, regularly posting possession rates above 50%. This year is no difference, but here’s a fun fact: The Rangers have been a better possession team of late. New York has been trending up for a few weeks now, meaning their possession game is rounding out just in time. Another interesting fact: The Hawks are trending down, albeit slowly, over the past month.
NYR in blue.
The Hawks keep winning though, and that is due to some SPSV%/PDO correction that was due. They are trending back above 100, which is league average, after spending a month or so playing to some bad luck. The Rangers, on the other hand, have been consistently high here all year.
NYR in blue.
The Hawks, like the Rangers had a very high SH% early in the season. While the Rangers are –finally– seeing that SH% drop to normal levels, the Hawks had theirs drop early in 2015. They were actually below average shooting at even strength for a while, but have seen those numbers climb of late.
NYR in blue.
In addition to a normalizing SH% for Chicago, their goaltending has steadily gotten better over the last few weeks. It’s not at the level of the Rangers, but it’s climbing back up to a point where they don’t need to worry about it.
NYR in blue.
In the end, you have a Hawks team that is getting better goaltending and shooting, but has seen their possession rates drop a bit over the last month. You never want to play a team that is trending upwards in SH% and SV%, but that’s the luck of the draw tonight for the Rangers.
Hawks Systems
Joel Quenneville is one of the best coaches in the game. His Hawks play an aggressive 2-1-2 forecheck, keeping the back forward and defensemen ready to jump on turnovers. In the defensive zone, the Hawks play a standard zone defense looking to defend you in layers based on puck location. On special teams, they run a 1-3-1 power play, and a wedge+1 penalty kill.
Hawks Lines
Kris Versteeg-Jonathan Toews-Marian Hossa
Teuvo Teravainen-Antoine Vermette-Brandon Saad
Patrick Sharp-Brad Richards-Dan Carcillo
Joakim Nordstrom-Marcus Kruger-Andrew Shaw
Kimmo Timonen-Brent Seabrook
Niklas Hjalmarsson-David Runblad
Duncan Keith-Michal Rozsival
PP1: Hossa, Toews, Shaw, Keith, Seabrook
PP2: Versteeg, Vermette, Richards, Sharp, Timonen
PK: Kruger, Saad, Toews, Hossa, Nordstrom, Shaw, Keith, Hjalmarsson, Seabrook, Rozsival
Corey Crawford gets the start.
Rangers Lines
Chris Kreider–Derek Stepan-Rick Nash
Kevin Hayes-Derick Brassard–Mats Zuccarello
Carl Hagelin-James Sheppard-J.T. Miller
Tanner Glass-Dominic Moore–Jesper Fast
Ryan McDonagh–Dan Girardi
Marc Staal–Dan Boyle
Keith Yandle–Matt Hunwick
PP1: Stepan, Brassard, Kreider, Nash, Yandle
PP2: Miller, Hayes, Zuccarello, Boyle, McDonagh
PK: Stepan, Nash, Girardi, Staal, Moore, Fast, Hunwick, Boyle, Hagelin, Yandle, McDonagh,
Cam Talbot is in net.
Scratches/Injuries: Henrik Lundqvist (throat), Kevin Klein (arm), Martin St. Louis (knee)
Crazy Prediction: Glass scores a goal.
Be sure to check out our ticket link if you’re looking for tickets to the game. Game time is 8pm on NBCSN.
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