AP Photo/Mike Strasinger
The Rangers are back home to open a tough stretch at the Garden that begins with Nashville. The Preds have one of the best blue lines in the league and Pekka Rinne in net. They have some solid talent up front that controls possession (53.8% CF). This is a playoff team in a tough division.
Meanwhile, the Rangers are not exactly playing their best hockey. They are winning, but the process doesn’t match the results on the ice. The goaltending is masking a large number of issues with the defense, and the forwards –although scoring– are playing dump and chase hockey a little too much, giving up the puck to the opposition on a regular basis. That needs to change. Teams like Nashville will exploit it.
Preds Systems
Peter Laviolette likes to have his team throw two different forechecking looks at the opposition. The first look is the 2-1-2 forecheck, and once the they get a lead, they tend to switch to a more conservative 2-3 left wing lock. Both systems send two forecheckers into the zone, but the 2-3 leaves one forward high in the zone, while the 2-1-2 sends an additional forechecker in deep. The 2-12 also allows defensemen to join the forecheck.
In the defensive zone, the Laviolette play a low zone collapse. This creates a logjam in the high-priced real estate, but gives some leeway at the point for puck movement. On special teams, the Preds play an umbrella powerplay and a hybrid penalty kill.
Preds Lines
Filip Forsberg-Mike Ribeiro-James Neal
Colin Wilson-Mike Fisher-Craig Smith
Gabriel Bourque-Calle Jarnkrok-Cody Hodgson
Eric Nystrom-Paul Gaustad-Austin Watson
Roman Josi-Shea Weber
Barret Jackman-Seth Jones
Mattias Ekholm-Ryan Ellis
PP1: Bourque-Smith-Wilson-Jones-Ellis
PP2: Bourque-Fisher-Forsberg-Josi-Weber
PK: Bourque, Gaustad, Jarnkrok, Forsberg, Fisher, Weber, Josi, Jackman, Jones, Ekholm
Pekka Rinne is in net.
Rangers Lines
Rick Nash–Derick Brassard–Mats Zuccarello
Chris Kreider–Derek Stepan–Kevin Hayes
J.T. Miller-Oscar Lindberg–Jesper Fast
Jarret Stoll–Dominic Moore–Viktor Stalberg
Ryan McDonagh–Dan Girardi
Marc Staal–Kevin Klein
Keith Yandle–Dan Boyle
PP1: Nash-Stepan-Zuccarello, Brassard-McDonagh
PP2: Kreider-Hayes-Lindberg, Yandle-Klein
PK: Stepan, Nash, Stoll, Lindberg, Moore, Girardi, McDonagh, Staal, Klein
Henrik Lundqvist is in net.
Scratches/Injuries: Emerson Etem (healthy), Dylan McIlrath (healthy)
Crazy Prediction: The Rangers finish with the game with the win and the possession advantage.
Be sure to check out our ticket link if you’re looking for tickets to the game. Game time is 7pm on MSG. All gifs will be on nyrgifs.com.
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