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The Rangers own again last night in Colorado, and are now 6-0-2 in their last eight games. Now the Rangers make the short trip back to Phoenix to wrap up the season series against the Coyotes. The Yotes score a lot (3 goals per game) and get scored on a lot (also 3 goals per game). They have a lot of young skill, but minimal depth. Antoine Vermette is also injured, which takes away from their offensive punch and already short depth.

The Yotes should eventually fall back to lottery territory, but it’s about when you play a team. They are still relatively scary, since the goaltending has been good and the scoring has been coming in bunches. Mike Smith is down to a .904 SV% though, so putting shots on him will go a long way.

What have they done lately?

After a strong start, the Coyotes have fallen back to Earth, and are playing .500 hockey. They have a strong top-six, but their bottom-six and defense leaves a lot to be desired. They are not a strong possession team, but they’ve been shooting at 9.8%, which is masking some depth issues at the moment.

As mentioned above, Smith has come back to Earth after his hot start, so peppering him with shots and taking advantage of a top-heavy defense is a must for the Rangers.

Yotes Systems

On the ice, Dave Tippett runs a very conservative style of play. The Coyotes run a 1-2-2 hybrid trap, which is something they’ve been running for some time down in the desert. They aren’t anything out of they ordinary when it comes to defensive zone schemes (zone defense), power play strategies (umbrella), or penalty kill formations (hybrid, depends on puck location/situation). This is a very passive hockey club that will capitalize on mistakes in the neutral zone.

Yotes Lines

Tobias Rieder-Martin Hanzal-Anthony Duclair
Max Domi-Kyle Chipchura-Mikkel Boedker
Jordan Martinook-Brad Richardson-Shane Doan
Tyler Gaudet-Boyd Gordon-Steve Downie

Oliver Ekman-Larsson-Michael Stone
Klas Dahlbeck-Zbynek Michalek
Nicklas Grossmann-Connor Murphy

PP1: Duclair, Domi, Hanzal, Boedker, OEL
PP2: Doan, Rieder, Martinook, Boedker, OEL

PK: Gordon, Chipchura, Rieder, Hanzal, Richardson, Grossmann, Michalek, Murph, Dahlbeck

Mike Smith gets the start.

Rangers Lines

Emerson Etem–Derick BrassardMats Zuccarello
Chris KreiderDerek StepanJ.T. Miller
Oscar LindbergKevin HayesViktor Stalberg
Jarret StollDominic MooreJesper Fast

Ryan McDonaghDan Girardi
Marc StaalKevin Klein
Keith YandleDylan McIlrath

PP1: Nash-Stepan-Zuccarello, Brassard-McDonagh
PP2: Kreider-Hayes-Lindberg, Yandle-Klein

PK: Stepan, Nash, Moore, Lindberg, Girardi, McDonagh, Staal, Klein

Antti Raanta is in net.

Scratches/Injuries: Rick Nash (back), Dan Boyle (healthy)

Crazy Prediction: The powerplay scores for a second game in a row.

Be sure to check out our ticket link if you’re looking for tickets to the game. Game time is 9pm on MSG. All gifs will be on nyrgifs.com.

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