The New York Rangers take on the Minnesota Wild –winners of their last five in a row– tonight, looking to build on their most recent win in Winnipeg the other night. The Rangers have played a few sloppy games in a row since clinching, which I guess is human nature. There has been some cause for concern, as possession numbers have been way down all month and roster decisions are still questionable.
On the bright side, the recent slide has conveniently corresponded with the Martin St. Louis injury, and he returns tonight from a sprained knee. Hopefully that provides a boost to the lineup. Alain Vigneault didn’t mess with his top-six, putting St. Louis on the third line with Carl Hagelin and Kevin Hayes.
What have they done lately?
As mentioned above, the Wild are pretty hot right now at 8-2-0 in their last ten, including five wins in a row. They’ve solidified their spot in the playoffs as the top wildcard in the Western Conference. This comes after acquiring Devan Dubnyk from the Coyotes for a third round pick. The Wild were on the outside of the playoffs looking in for a while, all due to terrible goaltending. Dubnyk has solidified the net, and they are in the playoffs.
When I say it was only due to poor goaltending, I truly mean that. The Wild are one of the better puck possession teams in the league that had horrible SPSV%/PDO numbers due to the poor goaltending.
*-I’m going to update this section prior to game time, as I’m having trouble accessing War-on-ice at the moment.
Wild Systems
Under Mike Yeo, the Wild run a 1-2-2 forecheck which they use aggressively or conservatively depending on game situation. In the defensive zone they play a zone D pretty much exclusively. The Wild prefer to attack the blue line with speed so the Rangers are going to have to be good defending the rush tonight and not leaving Hank on an island. On special teams, the Wild run an umbrella power play and a diamond force penalty kill.
Wild Lines
Zach Parise-Mikael Granlund-Jason Pomminville
Chris Stewart-Mikko Koivu-Nino Niederreiter
Thomas Vanek-Charlie Coyle-Justin Fontaine
Sean Bergenheim-Nick Haula-Jordan Schroeder
Ryan Suter-Jonas Brodin
Marco Scandella-Jared Spurgeon
Jordan Leopold-Matt Dumba
PP1: Parise-Koivu-Pomminville-Vanek-Suter
PP2: Stewart-Koivu-Niederreiter-Scandella-Spurgeon
PK: Koivu, Haula, Parise, Granlund, Fontaine, Schroeder, Coyle, Suter, Brodin, Scandella, Dumba, Spurgeon
Devan Dubnyk gets the start.
Rangers Lines
Chris Kreider–Derek Stepan–Rick Nash
Mats Zuccarello–Derick Brassard–J.T. Miller
Carl Hagelin–Kevin Hayes-Martin St. Louis
Tanner Glass–Dominic Moore-Jesper Fast
Marc Staal–Ryan McDonagh
Keith Yandle–Dan Girardi
Matt Hunwick–Dan Boyle
PP1: Stepan, Brassard, Kreider, Nash, Yandle
PP2: Miller, Hayes, Zuccarello, Boyle, McDonagh
PK: Stepan, Nash, Girardi, Staal, Moore, Fast, Hunwick, Boyle, Hagelin, Yandle, McDonagh
Henrik Lundqvist is in net.
Scratches/Injuries: Kevin Klein (arm), James Sheppard (healthy)
Crazy Prediction: MSL has a multi point night on his return.
Be sure to check out our ticket link if you’re looking for tickets to the game. Game time is 8pm on MSG.
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