Well Tuesday’s game was a letdown. The Rangers played well at even strength, but special teams continued to be a train wreck, dooming them to failure. While it is critical to outplay your opponents at 5v5, poor special teams will doom any team. The Rangers are no different, and they need to get these aspects of their game in order.
The Wild are a solid team stuck in the best division in hockey, so this represents a solid challenge for the Rangers. Another potential problem is the team speed of Minnesota, as the Rangers aren’t the swiftest of foot on the blue line. But if they play the same even strength game and shore up the issues on special teams, they may actually begin to make headway.
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 Pominville
Tomas Vanek-Mikko Koivu-Jason Zucker
Nino Niederreiter-Charlie Coyle-Justin Fontaine
Chris Porter-Jarret Stoll-Ryan Carter
Ryan Suter-Jared Spurgeon
Marco Scandella-Jonas Brodin
Nate Prosser-Matt Dumba
PP1: Parise-Koivu-Pomminville-Vanek-Suter
PP2: Fontaine-Koivu-Niederreiter-Scandella-Dumba
PK: Koivu, Parise, Granlund, Fontaine, Coyle, Suter, Brodin, Scandella, Dumba, Spurgeon
Devan Dubnyk gets the start.
Rangers Lines
Chris Kreider–Derek Stepan–Mats Zuccarello
JT Miller–Derick Brassard–Jesper Fast
Oscar Lindberg–Kevin Hayes–Viktor Stalberg
Daniel Paille–Dominic Moore–Tanner Glass
Ryan McDonagh–Dan Girardi
Marc Staal–Dan Boyle
Keith Yandle-Dylan McIlrath
PP1: Kreider-Zuccarello-Brassard-Stepan-Yandle
PP2: Hayes-Miller-Megna-McDonagh-Boyle
PK: Stepan, Moore, Lindberg, Fast, McDonagh, Staal, Yandle, Girardi
Henrik Lundqvist gets the start.
Scratches/Injuries: Kevin Klein (thumb), Rick Nash (leg), Tanner Glass (healthy)
Crazy Prediction: The start of something resembling consistency.
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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