The Rangers are in Toronto tonight to take on the Leafs, a team that is a lot better than you might think. They beat the Rangers the last time they faced each other, and this time the Leafs are facing damaged goods. The Rangers were laughably bad against Dallas on Tuesday. On the bright side, they can’t get much worse. Right? RIGHT?

It’s been a rocky road for the Rangers, who have been either flat or flat out humiliated for an alarming number of recent games. The defense needs to defend. The forwards need to back check. The goalie needs to make more saves on shots he should be stopping. They all need to get their acts together.

Disclaimer: I’m in New Orleans, and wrote this before I flew out this morning. I did the best I could to predict the lineups.

Leafs Systems

Mike Babcock plays a 2-1-2 forecheck/LW lock depending on game situation. In their own zone, it was a straight up zone defense. On the PP, it was an umbrella and a 1-3-1 formation. On the penalty kill they changed up their strategy depending on the opposition’s setup. Pretty straight forward for a team lacking skill.

Leafs Lines

James van Riemsdyk-Tyler Bozak-Mitch Marner
Leo Komarov-Nazem Kadri-William Nylander
Zach Hyman-Auston Matthews-Connor Brown
Matt Martin-Frederik Gauthier-Nikita Soshnikov

Morgan Rielly-Nikita Zaitsev
Jake Gardiner-Connor Carrick
Matt Hunwick-Roman Polak

PP1: JVR-Bozak-Marner-Kadri-Zaitsev
PP2: Matthews-Brown-Nylander-Komarov-Gardiner

Frederik Andersen 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-Oscar Lindberg-Brandon Pirri

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), Jesper Fast (lower body), Antti Raanta (lower body)

Crazy Prediction: Less than five goals allowed?

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

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