Photo: Paul J. Bereswill
The Rangers played one of their most dominating games of the season on Thursday, one game after dominating even strength against the Devils. Special teams seems to be a major problem for the Rangers, one without an immediate solution, but at least they’ve been playing significantly better at even strength. The Flyers aren’t a bad team, but they lack depth, which is keeping them out of the playoffs.
That said, this is a four-point swing game on a team that is seven points back of the Rangers with two games in hand. If the Flyers win those games in hand, they are three points back, so this game has more meaning than what meets the eye. They aren’t as good as Minnesota though, so the Rangers should theoretically be able to build something here.
Flyers Systems
From the limited views I’ve had of the Flyers this season, it appears Dave Haskol has a fairly straight forward approach. He runs a 1-2-2 forecheck and a zone defense, primarily overload/collapse. He runs a hybrid 1-3-1/umbrella powerplay, and a hybrid penalty kill. The new age of coaching is a lot of hybrids, in case you couldn’t get that theme.
Flyers Lines
Jakub Voracek-Claude Giroux-Wayne Simmonds
Sam Gagner-Sean Couturier-Brayden Schenn
Chris Vandevelde-Pierre-Edouard Bellemare-Ryan White
Michael Raffl-Scott Laughton-Matt Read
Michael Del Zotto-Shayne Gostisbehere
Nick Schultz-Mark Streit
Yevgeny Medvedev-Radko Gudas
PP1: Giroux-Schenn-Simmonds-Voracek-Gostisbehere
PP2: Raffl-Gagner-Couturier-Streit-Medvedev
PK: Vandevelde, Bellmare, Laughton, Giroux, White, Gudas, Schultz, Del Zotto, Gostisbehere
Steve Mason 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-Kevin Klein
PP1: Yandle-Brassard-Miller-Hayes-Lindberg
PP2: McDonagh-Boyle-Kreider-Stepan-Zuccarello
PK: Stepan, Moore, Lindberg, Fast, McDonagh, Staal, Yandle, Girardi
Henrik Lundqvist gets the start.
Scratches/Injuries: Dylan McIlrath (healthy), Rick Nash (leg)
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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