The Rangers are in Columbus tonight with a chance to tie the Blue Jackets (and Penguins) in points. Doing so would put them in a virtual tie for second in the Metro, nine points behind Washington. However Columbus (and Pittsburgh) does have a game in hand on the Rangers, hence virtual tie. A win (and tying the season series at two a piece) goes a long way towards building confidence against a very good team.
The Rangers are getting Dan Girardi back, which means Adam Clendening sits. Sigh. Antti Raanta gets the start as well, with Henrik Lundqvist getting some rest after securing his 400th win. I think this is the first time the Rangers and Blue Jackets are facing each other with both teams fully healthy. Should be an interesting game.
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
Boone Jenner-Brandon Dubinsky–Cam Atkinson
Brandon Saad-Alex Wennberg-Nick Foligno
Matt Calvert-William Karlsson-John Anderson
Scott Hartnell-Lucas Sedlak-Sam Gagner
Zach Werenski-Seth Jones
Jack Johnson-David Savard
Ryan Murray-Markus Nutivaara
PP1:Atkinson-Wennberg-Gagner-Foligno-Werenski
PP2: Saad-Dubinsky-Hartnell-Murray-Jones
Sergei Bobrovsky gets the start.
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–Dan Girardi
Marc Staal–Nick Holden
Brady Skjei–Kevin Klein
PP1: Zibanejad-Buchnevich-Nash-Miller-McDonagh
PP2: Stepan-Miller-Kreider-Zuccarello-Holden
Antti Raantagets the start.
Injuries/Scratches: Brandon Pirri (healthy), Matt Puempel (healthy), Adam Clendening (healthy)
Crazy Prediction: All three members of the fourth line get a goal.
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