After dropping Game One, the Rangers are back at it in Pittsburgh with a need to even the series. Evgeni Malkin may be back (as of this writing nothing was official). If he is back, and he’s on the third line, where he was taking line rushes yesterday, then that is some scary depth for the Penguins. This is a team that made the Rangers eat their mistakes, and Malkin will only help that.
The Rangers are without Dan Girardi, so Dylan McIlrath will get his first taste of playoff hockey today. Call it harsh, but that is likely a net-win for the Rangers, as Girardi (and Staal) was downright awful in Game One. Regardless, the Rangers need to continue to pressure like they did in Game One –where they dominated the possession game– but limit the defensive zone mistakes. As we’ve been touting, possession is part of the process. DZ mistakes are the other part.
Be sure to check out our series preview, systems preview, stats preview, and goaltender preview posts if you haven’t already. Some quality reading from the amazing writers here.
Penguins Lines
Chris Kunitz-Sidney Crosby-Patric Hornqvist
Carl Hagelin-Nick Bonino-Phil Kessel
Bryan Rust-Evgeni Malkin-Conor Sheary
Tom Kuhnhackl-Matt Cullen-Eric Fehr
Olli Maata-Kris Letang
Brian Dumoulin-Travor Daley
Ben Lovejoy-Ian Cole
PP1: Crosby-Malkin-Kessel-Hornqvist-Letang
PP2: Kunitz-Bonino-Sheary-Daley-Maata
PK: Crosby, Hagelin, Cullen, Fehr, Kuhnhackl, Maata, Letang, Daley, Dumoulin
Jeff Zatkoff gets the start.
Rangers Lines (Presumed)
J.T. Miller–Derick Brassard–Rick Nash
Chris Kreider–Derek Stepan–Mats Zuccarello
Kevin Hayes–Eric Staal–Jesper Fast
Tanner Glass–Dominic Moore–Viktor Stalberg
Marc Staal–Kevin Klein
Keith Yandle–Dylan McIlrath
Brady Skjei–Dan Boyle
PP1: Yandle-Klein-Miller-Hayes-Fast
PP2: Zucc-Boyle-Kreider-Stepan-Brassard
PK: Stepan, Moore, Nash, Fast, Glass, Skjei, Staal, Klein, McIlrath
Henrik Lundqvist gets the start.
Scratches/Injuries: Ryan McDonagh (hand), Dan Girardi (everything), Oscar Lindberg(healthy)
Crazy Prediction: A shutout for Hank.
Be sure to check out our ticket link if you’re looking for tickets to the game. Game time is 3pm on NBC. All gifs will be on nyrgifs.com.
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