After going 0-2 in their Ontario stretch, and playing relatively poor hockey to boot, the Rangers are back in action tonight to take on the struggling yet potent Dallas Stars. The Stars have a ton of scoring depth, but inconsistent defense and goaltending has plagued them all year. When you factor in that the potent offense is more bark than bite right now, you get a team that should make the playoffs currently on the outside looking in.

As for the Rangers, they are finally healthy up front. Mika Zibanejad makes his return tonight after recovering from a broken leg. The forwards are finally healthy, and likely will look like this going forward. This is the same group that lit up the entire league in October. Hopefully it won’t take them long to get reacquainted and find that scoring touch again. The team could surely use it.

Stars Systems

Lindy Ruff has the Stars playing an overload 1-2-2 forecheck which can be deployed aggressively or conservatively depending on the game situation (e.g., time left in period, score, etc.). In the defensive zone, Dallas tends to overload when the puck is along the boards, but they’ll switch to a zone defense when the puck is at the points. The Stars also run a variation of a 1-3-1 power play and diamond/box hybrid penalty kill. These are familiar styles of play that the Rangers should be used to at this point.

Stars Lines

Jamie Benn-Tyler Seguin-Patrick Eaves
Devin Shore-Jason Spezza-Brett Ritchie
Antoine Roussel-Cody Eakin-Jiri Hudler
Lauri Korpikoski-Radek Faksa-Patrick Sharp

Esa Lindell-John Klingberg
Johnny Oduya-Stephen Johns
Dan Hamhuis-Jordie Benn

PP1: Benn-Spezza-Seguin-Eaves-Klingberg
PP2: Faksa-Roussell-Ritchie-Hamhuis-Johns

Antti Niemi gets the start.

Rangers Lines 

Rick Nash-Mika Zibanejad-Pavel Buchnevich
Chris Kreider-Derek Stepan-Mats Zuccarello
Michael Grabner-Kevin Hayes-JT Miller
Jimmy Vesey-Brandon Pirri-Jesper Fast

Ryan McDonagh–Dan Girardi
Nick Holden–Kevin Klein
Brady Skjei-Adam Clendening

PP1: Zibanejad-Buchnevich-Nash-Miller-Clendening
PP2: Stepan-Pirri-Kreider-Zuccarello-McDonagh

Henrik Lundqvist gets the start.

Injuries/Scratches: Marc Staal (upper body), Matt Puempel (IR), Antti Raanta (lower body), Oscar Lindberg (healthy)

Crazy Prediction: Zibanejad scores in his return.

Game time is 7pm. Gifs are on @blueseatblogs. Be sure to follow our snapchat (blueseatblogs) too!

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