The Rangers have quietly won three in a row, allowing just five goals in that span. Henrik Lundqvist seems to be rounding into form. The forwards are scoring up and down the lineup, so the depth appears to be back in order as well. The Rangers just played a solid game against the Ducks, and have a matchup against a very similar team in Nashville tonight.
The Predators, like the Ducks, have talent up front, but not much scoring depth. They have one of the top blue lines in the game as well. This is why they are 6th in goals against and 17th in goals for. They recently cut Mike Ribiero and added Vernon Fiddler via trade. That’s probably a wash on the ice, and a net positive in the locker room. Keeping shots tot he outside will be key for the Rangers, but that’s been hit or miss over the course of the season.
Preds Systems
Peter Laviolette likes to have his team throw two different forechecking looks at the opposition. The first look is the 2-1-2 forecheck, and once the they get a lead, they tend to switch to a more conservative 2-3 left wing lock. Both systems send two forecheckers into the zone, but the 2-3 leaves one forward high in the zone, while the 2-1-2 sends an additional forechecker in deep. The 2-12 also allows defensemen to join the forecheck.
In the defensive zone, the Laviolette play a low zone collapse. This creates a logjam in the high-priced real estate, but gives some leeway at the point for puck movement. On special teams, the Preds play an umbrella powerplay and a hybrid penalty kill.
Preds Lines
Filip Forsberg-Ryan Johansen-James Neal
Pontus Aberg-Mike Fischer-Craig Smith
Colin Wilson-Calle Jarnkrok-Victor Arvidsson
Cody McLeod-Vernon Fiddler-Austin Watson
Mattias Ekholm-PK Subban
Matt Irwin-Ryan Ellis
Roman Josi-Yannick Weber
PP1: Arvidsson-Forsberg-Johansen-Neal-Josi
PP2: Jarnkrok-Fisher-Wilson-Ellis-Subban
Juuse Saros is in net.
Rangers Lines
Chris Kreider–Mika Zibanejad–Mats Zuccarello
Jimmy Vesey–Derek Stepan–Rick Nash
Michael Grabner–Kevin Hayes–JT Miller
Pavel Buchnevich–Oscar Lindberg–Jesper Fast
Ryan McDonagh–Nick Holden
Marc Staal–Adam Clendening
Brady Skjei–Kevin Klein
PP1: Zibanejad-Buchnevich-Nash-Miller-McDonagh
PP2: Stepan-Miller-Kreider-Zuccarello-Holden
Henrik Lundqvist gets the start.
Injuries/Scratches: Brandon Pirri (healthy), Matt Puempel (healthy), Dan Girardi (ankle)
Crazy Prediction: MSG isn’t empty due to the snow.
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