Game 71: End the west coast trip on a high note in San Jose

AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez

So the Rangers beat the Ducks on Wednesday and then lost to the Kings on Thursday. This afternoon they are in San Jose to take on their third straight Pacific Division playoff team. This is also the last game the Rangers play outside of the Eastern timezone this season (unless they make a run to the Stanley Cup Final). I don’t know about you guys, but I’m happy these games are over. I hate the west coast runs, even if this one is in the afternoon.

As far as on-ice product goes, the Rangers played a strong game Wednesday, but blew a two goal lead in LA and lost in overtime after a questionable goal that could have been goaltender interference. That sounds really familiar. But San Jose, while skilled, is not as big as the Kings and play more of a finesse game. It’s another big challenge for an inconsistent Rangers club that has been maddening to watch most of the year.

Sharks Systems

Pete DeBoer is the new guy in San Jose, so their systems likely changed from last year. I haven’t watched them this year, but when DeBoer was with the Devils, he had the Devils playing a 1-2-2 forecheck which they would use aggressively in the offensive zone or passively in the neutral zone as a trap depending on game situation. In the defensive zone, Deboer employed a hybrid overload/zone defensive system depending on whether the puck is along the boards or at mid-ice. On special teams, the DeBoer used an umbrella/1-3-1 power play and a box/diamond penalty kill.

For more on these systems, check out our Hockey Systems page.

Sharks Lines

Tomas Hertl-Joe Thornton–Joe Pavelski
Melker Karlsson-Logan Couture-Joonas Donskoi
Matt Nieto-Patrick Marleau-Joel Ward
Nick Spaling-Chris Tierney-Dainius Zubrus

Marc-Edouard Vlasic-Justin Braun
Paul Martin-Brent Burns
Brendan Dillon-Roman Polak

Martin Jones gets the start.

PP1: Thornton-Pavelski-Marleau-Couture-Burns (Wow, stay out of the box.)
PP2: Ward-Hertl-Donskoi-Vlasic-Braun

PK: Tierney, Karlsson, Marleau, Ward, Spaling, Nieto, Martin, Burns, Vlasic, Braun, Dillon, Polak

Rangers Lines

Chris Kreider–Derek Stepan–Jesper Fast
Rick Nash–Derick Brassard–Mats Zuccarello
Kevin Hayes–Eric Staal–J.T. Miller
Tanner Glass–Dominic Moore–Viktor Stalberg