Game 80: Potential playoff preview against banged-up Tampa Bay

Photo by David Hahn/Icon Sportswire

The third time was a charm for the Rangers, who finally clinched a playoff berth last night in Columbus. With that done, they will likely be resting some of their top guys to gear up for a potential playoff run. They are also without Ryan McDonagh for what could be an extended period of time, so we may get a look at what the defense looks like without him.

Luckily for the Rangers, the Bolts are pretty banged up too. Anton Stralman is out. Steven Stamkos is out. But that doesn’t mean this team isn’t dangerous. They are still deep and skilled, and Ben Bishop is a solid goalie.

Depending on where the teams wind up at the end of the season, there’s a chance they may meet in the first or second rounds of the playoffs. So this has playoff implications, even for a relatively meaningless game for the Rangers.

Bolts Systems

Jon Cooper has the Lightning playing a pretty similar system as the Rangers. They run an overload 1-2-2 forecheck, but will mix in a 2-1-2 as well. They do this quite often against the Rangers actually. In the defensive zone, they mix zone and overload coverage depending on puck location. On special teams, they run a 1-3-1 power play and rotate between a diamond and box penalty kill depending on opposition setup.

Bolts Lines

Ondrej Palat-Tyler Johnson-Nikita Kucherov
Valtteri Filppula-Cedric Paquetten-Ryan Callahan
Alex Killorn-Vladimir Namestnikov-J.T. Brown
Erik Condra-Brian Boyle-Mike Blunden

Victor Hedman-Matt Carle
Jason Garrison-Andrej Sustr
Braydon Coburn-Nikita Nesterov

PP1: Kucherov-Johnson-Boyle-Palat-Nesterov
PP2: Callahan-Killorn-Filppula-Hedman-Garrison

PK: Boyle, Condra, Callahan, Filppula, Killorn, Hedman, Carle, Coburn, Sustr

Andrei Vasilevskiy gets the start.

Rangers Lines (Presumed)

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

Keith Yandle–Dan Girardi
Marc Staal–Kevin Klein
Brady Skjei–Dan Boyle

PP1: Yandle-Klein-Miller-Hayes-Fast
PP2: Zucc-Boyle-Kreider-Stepan-Brassard

PK: Stepan, Moore, Nash, Fast, Glass, McDonagh, Staal, Klein, Girardi

Antti Raanta gets the start.

Scratches/Injuries: Oscar Lindberg (healthy), Dylan McIlrath (healthy), Ryan McDonagh (hand)

Crazy Prediction: Lundqvist scores a goal.

Be sure to check out our ticket link if you’re looking for tickets to the game. Game time is 7:30pm on MSG. All gifs will be on nyrgifs.com.