The Rangers are in Brooklyn tonight to take on an Isles team that got spanked by the Leafs the other night. They had won three of four prior, and given it’s the Rangers, I’m assuming the Isles will be coming out to avoid another spanking tonight. But the Rangers have a unique opportunity to extend their win streak to seven while also delivering a blow to the Isles’ playoff hopes.
Matt Puempel will return to the lineup, and Pavel Buchnevich will be a healthy scratch. With the trade deadline coming up, this could also be one of the last games you see the roster as currently constructed. But I just like feeding the trade rumor wolf. It’s fun. Should be a good Rangers crowd tonight in Brooklyn.
Isles Systems
Jack Capuano has been fired by the Isles, and replaced by Doug Weight. On the forecheck, they appear to rotate between a 2-1-2 and a 1-2-2, but use both aggressively. In the defensive zone, it looked like an aggressive zone, likely a hybrid strong side overload/zone. On the penalty kill, it looks like a wedge+1. The powerplay is mostly overload, but they work in a 1-3-1 every now and then.
Islanders Lines
Anders Lee-John Tavares-Josh Bailey
Anthony Beauvillier-Brock Nelson-Ryan Strome
Andrew Ladd-Casey Cizikas-Nikolay Kulemin
Jason Chimera-Alan Quine-Stephen Gionta
Nick Leddy-Johnny Boychuk
Thomas Hickey-Scott Mayfield
Calvin de Haan-Dennis Seidenberg
PP1: Strome-Tavares-Bailey-Lee-Leddy
PP2: Nelson-Quine-Beauvillier-Mayfield-Boychuk
Thomas Greiss gets the start.
Rangers Lines
Chris Kreider–Mika Zibanejad–Mats Zuccarello
Jimmy Vesey–Derek Stepan–Rick Nash
Michael Grabner–Kevin Hayes–JT Miller
Matt Puempel–Oscar Lindberg–Jesper Fast
Ryan McDonagh–Dan Girardi
Marc Staal–Nick Holden
Brady Skjei–Adam Clendening
PP1: Zibanejad-Hayes-Nash-Miller-McDonagh
PP2: Stepan-Miller-Kreider-Zuccarello-Holden
Henrik Lundqvist gets the start.
Injuries/Scratches: Brandon Pirri (healthy), Pavel Buchnevich (healthy), Kevin Klein (sick)
Crazy Prediction: A hat trick for Puempel, just so we can watch the world burn when Buchnevich is scratched again the next game.
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