Hockey has arrived, and boy am I happy to say that. The Rangers begin their preseason tonight at home against the Islanders. There are a bunch of roster battles taking place this preseason, with the focus primarily on the bottom six. There are seven players dressing tonight who are in contention for those spots, and we will continue to keep an eye on them and all others fighting for a spot as the preseason moves along.
The blue line isn’t up for as much debate, but the Rangers still have some question marks there. Will Dan Girardi and Marc Staal be able to rebound to some level of respectability? We will get a first glimpse of them tonight. We also get to see if Brady Skjei can be a regular, and if Adam Clendining was truly a shrewd offseason signing.
If you need a recap of what type of hockey Alain Vigneault has the Rangers playing, catch up here.
Isles Systems
Like the Rangers, Isles head coach Jack Capuano has the Isles running a 1-2-2 forecheck and a 1-1-3 lock, which they use aggressively or conservatively depending on the game situation (e.g., score, time left in period, etc.). In the defensive zone, the Isles are bit different than the Blueshirts. Capuano has them playing man-on-man up high, but collapse into a zone defense when the puck is down low. On special teams, the Isles rotate between a 1-3-1 and 1-2-2 power play and a hybrid penalty kill.
Isles Lines
The Isles have a split squad tonight.
Forwards: Steve Bernier, Alan Quine, Matt Barzal, Andrew Ladd, P.A. Parenteau, Stephen Gionta, Jason Chimera, Brock Nelson, Eric Boulton. Tanner Fritz, Michael Dal Colle, Kyle Schempp
Defense: Nick Leddy, Travis Hamonic, Calvin de Haan, Matt Finn, David Quenneville, Jesse Graham
Goalies: JF Berube, Stephon Williams
Rangers Lines
Chris Kreider-Mika Zibanejad-Pavel Buchnevich
Brandon Pirri-Josh Jooris-Niklas Jensen
Robin Kovacs-Marek Hrivik-Malte Stromwall
Tanner Glass-Maxim Lapierre-Chris Brown
Marc Staal-Adam Clendening
Brady Skjei-Dan Girardi
Mat Bodie-Dylan McIlrath
Magnus Hellberg
Mackenzie Skapski
Game time is 7pm on MSG. All gifs on nyrgifs.com.
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