The Rangers begin their post All Star Game run tonight against Columbus, one of the few teams with a better record than the Rangers right now. The Blue Jackets are second in the Metro, five points ahead of the Rangers with a game in hand. In the world of three point games and loser points, it’s unlikely the Rangers catch them.
The Rangers aren’t drawing Sergei Bobrovsky tonight, so that’s always a good thing. But the Blue Jackets are skilled up and down the lineup and on the blue line. There’s a reason why they went on their run. This is a tough team to face.
Jackets Systems
John Tortorella is a notorious aggressive forechecking coach, deploying a 2-1-2 forecheck with most of his teams. In the defensive zone, he’s also notorious for clogging the slot in a low zone collapse, keeping shots to the outside. On special teams, he usually runs an umbrella powerplay, but there’s enough skill on the top-six in Columbus to run a 1-3-1 as well. On the kill, it’s a standard box/diamond hybrid.
For more on hockey systems, check here.
Jackets Lines
Matt Calvert-Brandon Dubinsky–Cam Atkinson
Brandon Saad-Alex Wennberg-Nick Foligno
Boone Jenner-William Karlsson-John Anderson
Scott Hartnell-Lucas Sedlak-Sam Gagner
Zach Werenski-Seth Jones
Ryan Murray-Jack Johnson
Scott Harrington-Dalton Prout
PP1:Atkinson-Wennberg-Gagner-Foligno-Werenski
PP2: Saad-Dubinsky-Jenner-Hartnell-Jones
Joonas Korpisalo gets the start.
Rangers Lines
Rick Nash–Mika Zibanejad–Pavel Buchnevich
Chris Kreider–Derek Stepan–Mats Zuccarello
Michael Grabner–JT Miller–Jimmy Vesey
Matt Puempel–Brandon Pirri-Jesper Fast
Ryan McDonagh–Dan Girardi
Marc Staal-Nick Holden
Brady Skjei–Kevin Klein
PP1: Zibanejad-Buchnevich-Nash-Miller-McDonagh
PP2: Stepan-Pirri-Kreider-Zuccarello-Holden
Henrik Lundqvist gets the start.
Injuries/Scratches: Kevin Hayes (lower body), Oscar Lindberg (healthy), Adam Clendening (healthy)
Crazy Prediction: Three assists from the defense.
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