The Rangers are in the middle of their worst stretch of the season, in terms of on-ice performance, and it’s shown itself in the standings with a 4-4-1 record in their last nine games. Apart from inconsistent play, the Rangers have seen their speed game neutralized due to injuries and blue line regression. It’s eerily similar to last year, but the special teams have been a major source of happiness of late.
And perhaps it’s on special teams that the Rangers will need to take care of business tonight. The Rangers hold top-ten powerplay and penalty kill units, while the Isles are last on the powerplay and 18th on the penalty kill. Couple that with very weak forward lines, and the Isles are a team that the Rangers should be able to dominate. But then again, the Isles always play the Rangers tough, so you never really know. A consistent 60 minute effort would be super, though.
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.
Islanders Lines
Brock Nelson-John Tavares-Josh Bailey
Andrew Ladd-Ryan Strome-Shane Prince
Anders Lee-Casey Cizikas-Cal Clutterbuck
Nikolay Kulemin-Alan Quine-Jason Chimera
Nick Leddy-Travis Hamonic
Thomas Hickey-Johnny Boychuk
Calvin de Haan-Dennis Seidenberg
PP1: Ladd-Tavares-Bailey-Lee-Leddy
PP2: Nelson-Quine-Prine-Hickey-Boychuk
Jaroslav Halak gets the start.
Rangers Lines:
Jimmy Vesey–Kevin Hayes–Rick Nash
Chris Kreider–Derek Stepan–Mats Zuccarello
J.T. Miller–Brandon Pirri–Jesper Fast
Matt Puempel–Oscar Lindberg-Marek Hrivik
Ryan McDonagh–Dan Girardi
Marc Staal–Nick Holden
Brady Skjei-Kevin Klein
PP1: Kreider-Stepan-Pirri-Zucc-McDonagh
PP2: Nash-Vesey-Hayes-Skjei-Clendening
Henrik Lundqvist gets the start.
Injuries/Scratches: Mika Zibanejad (leg), Pavel Buchnevich (upper body), Josh Jooris (heathy), Adam Clendening (healthy), Michael Grabner (personal)
Crazy Prediction: A win while scoring just twice.
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