The Rangers got crushed on Wednesday night, as the Penguins responded in kind to their demolition on Monday. Naturally the Rangers went from Cup contenders on Tuesday to cellar dwellers on Thursday, or at least that’s what you would think if you read the reactions across the fanbase. Those kinds of losses build character, and how the Rangers respond this afternoon on NBC will dictate what we can expect from them the rest of the season.
The Flyers present an interesting challenge in that they should be better –on paper– than they are right now. Picked by many to be a sleeper team for the playoffs, the Flyers are playing sub-.500 hockey while hemorrhaging goals. They have a bit of an injury bug on the blue line which may be contributing. They also have Andrew MacDonald on the first pair, so that can be exploited regularly.
Flyers Systems
Dave Hakstol runs a 1-2-2 forecheck, and a low zone collapse in the defensive zone. The PP is probably a 1-3-1/umbrella hybrid, and the PK is probably a hybrid as well. For more on hockey systems, follow this link.
The Flyers’ depth can be exploited int he right situation.
Flyers Lines
Brayden Schenn-Claude Giroux-Jakub Voracek
Travis Konecny-Nick Cousins-Wayne Simmonds
Michael Raffl-Pierre-Edouard Bellemare-Matt Read
Chris Vandevelde-Scott Laughton-Dale Weise
Shayne Gostisbehere-Andrew MacDonald
Ivan Provorov-Mark Streit
Brandon Manning-Radko Gudas
PP1: Giroux-Schenn-Simmonds-Voracek-Gostisbehere
PP2: Read-Cousins-Read-Provorov-Streit
Steve Mason gets the start.
Rangers Lines:
Chris Kreider–Kevin Hayes–Mats Zuccarello
Michael Grabner–Derek Stepan–Rick Nash
Jimmy Vesey–Brandon Pirri–J.T. Miller
Matt Puempel-Josh Jooris–Jesper Fast
Ryan McDonagh–Dan Girardi
Marc Staal–Brady Skjei
Nick Holden–Kevin Klein
PP1: Kreider-Miller-Pirri-Zucc-McDonagh
PP2: Nash-Stepan-Vesey-Hayes-Girardi
Henrik Lundqvist gets the start.
Injuries/Scratches: Mika Zibanejad (leg), Adam Clendening (healthy), Pavel Buchnevich (upper body), Oscar Lindberg (healthy)
Crazy Prediction: Rebound in a big way.
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