A strong first period, complete with stretch passes and a competent forecheck, helped the Rangers even the series on Saturday afternoon. Now the series shifts to Washington for Games Three and Four, and the Blueshirts find themselves in a familiar situation. Heading away from home with the series tied. This happened last round, and the Rangers won three in a row to close out that series.

But these aren’t the Pens. The Caps are talented, deep, and have a white-hot Braden Holtby in net. Barry Trotz out-coached Alain Vigneault in Game One, getting Alex Ovechkin out against Keith Yandle and Dan Boyle. With last change, we should expect to see a lot of that tonight. It will be up to AV to get his top guys out there against Ovechkin, or else he will run amok like he did on Thursday.

Kevin did a nice run down of how the Caps play today, Justin broke down how to beat Braden Holtby, Chris did a full preview of the series, and I wrote about why shadowing Ovechkin isn’t the right move. If you haven’t checked those out, you should. They are good reads while waiting for the game to begin.

Caps Systems

Under Barry Trotz the Caps run a 1-1-3 lock or a 1-2-2 forecheck, which they use aggressively or conservatively depending on the game situation (e.g., puck location, the score, etc.). In the defensive zone, Trotz runs your standard zone defense. On special teams, the Caps employ a 1-3-1 power play, and a diamond/box hybrid penalty kill depending on puck location and opposition setup.

Caps Lines

Alex Ovechkin-Nicklas Backstrom-Joel Ward
Marcus Johansson-Alex Kuznetsov-Jason Chimera
Andre Burakovsky-Jay Beagle-Troy Brouwer
Curtis Glencross-Brooks Laich-Tom Wilson

Brooks Orpik-John Carlson
Karl Alzner-Matt Niskanen
Tim Gleason-Mike Green

PP1: Ovechkin-Backstrom-Brouwer-Johansson-Carlson
PP2: Ovechkin-Kuznetsov-Ward-Glencross-Carlson

PK: Laich, Brouwer, Fehr, Ward, Backstrom, Orpik, Carlson, Niskanen, Alzner

Braden Holtby gets the start.

Rangers Lines

Rick Nash–Derick Brassard–Martin St. Louis
Chris Kreider–Derek Stepan–Jesper Fast
Carl Hagelin–Kevin Hayes–J.T. Miller
Tanner Glass–Dominic Moore–James Sheppard

Ryan McDonagh–Dan Girardi
Marc Staal–Kevin Klein
Keith Yandle–Dan Boyle

PP1: Kreider-Stepan-St. Louis-Brassard-Boyle
PP2: Nash-Hayes-Miller-McDonagh-Yandle

PK: Stepan, Nash, Girardi, Staal, Moore, Fast, Hunwick, Boyle, Hagelin, Yandle, McDonagh

Henrik Lundqvist is in net.

Scratches/Injuries: Mats Zuccarello (upper body)

Crazy Prediction: The Rangers score more than two goals.

Be sure to check out our ticket link if you’re looking for tickets to the game. Game time is 7:30pm on NBCSN.

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