Photo: AP

Photo: AP

This is becoming a recurring theme for games lately. The Rangers haven’t played well in a long time. Henrik Lundqvist is masking a lot of problems so the team wins games. There’s no way you can look at the last two weeks or so and think to yourself, “This team can win a Stanley Cup.” Now they are without Derek Stepan and Kevin Klein for extended periods of time. Tanner Glass was recalled to play for the sick Emerson Etem. All signs point to a downturn in results to match the process.

That said, this is a team that fights through adversity with regularity. They haven’t been playing well, but they win. They deal with injuries that should hurt them, but they deal with it and win. This is another consistent trend for the Rangers over the past three seasons. Perhaps injuries are the kick in the tail they need. Perhaps a date with the Islanders in the World’s Most Off Center Arena is what they need.

This is another one of those four point swing games with the Rangers up six in the division on the Isles. Wins against division opponents are critical, and this is no different. The Isles have had pretty terrible goaltending, so the hot-shooting Rangers need to exploit that with shots. You never know what happens when you take a shot.

Isles Systems

Like the Rangers, Isles head coach Jack Capuano has the Isles running a 1-2-2 forecheck and a 1-1-3 lock, which they use aggressively or conservatively depending on the game situation (e.g., score, time left in period, etc.). In the defensive zone, the Isles are bit different than the Blueshirts. Capuano has them playing man-on-man up high, but collapse into a zone defense when the puck is down low. On special teams, the Isles rotate between a 1-3-1 and 1-2-2 power play and a hybrid penalty kill.

Isles Lines

Brock Nelson-John Tavares-Kyle Okposo
Anders Lee-Frans Nielsen-Josh Bailey
Nikolai Kulemin-Mikhail Grabovski-Ryan Strome
Matt Martin-Casey Cizikas-Cal Clutterbuck

Nick Leddy-Travis Hamonic
Calvin de Haan-Johnny Boychuck
Thomas Hickey-Marek Zidlicky

PP1: Tavares-Nelson-Nielsen-Okposo-Leddy
PP2: Lee-Bailey-Strome-Grabovski-Zidlicky

PK: Nielsen, Kulemin, Cizikas, Clutterbuck, Nelson, de Haan, Boychuck, Hamonic, Leddy

Jaroslav Halak gets the start.

Rangers Lines

Rick NashDerick BrassardMats Zuccarello
Chris KreiderOscar LindbergJesper Fast
J.T. MillerKevin HayesViktor Stalberg
Dominic MooreJarret Stoll–Tanner Glass

Ryan McDonagh–Dan Girardi
Marc StaalDan Boyle
Keith YandleDylan McIlrath

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

PK: Nash, Stoll, Lindberg, Moore, Fast, Girardi, McDonagh, Staal, Boyle

Henrik Lundqvist is in net.

Scratches/Injuries: Derek Stepan (ribs), Emerson Etem (sick), Kevin Klein (abdominal strain)

Crazy Prediction: Glass scores.

Be sure to check out our ticket link if you’re looking for tickets to the game. Game time is 8pm on NBCSN. All gifs will be on nyrgifs.com.

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