Photo Credit: Washington Post

The Rangers have a Sunday matinee today at MSG, taking on the Metro leading Washington Capitals. The Caps are one of four teams with a better record than the Rangers, and three of them are in the Metro Division. That’s just crazy. But the Caps are deep, skilled, get solid goaltending, and have a decent enough blue line.

This is going to be the first real test for the Rangers in February, as they are facing the cream of the crop in the league. A good showing against Washington goes a long way to building confidence for the playoff run. I can’t believe I’m about to say this, but I’m focusing more on how they play than about the W. The W is nice, but showing they can skate with the Caps is more important.

Caps Systems

Under Barry Trotz the Caps run a 1-1-3 lock or a 1-2-2 forecheck, which they use aggressively or conservatively depending on the game situation (e.g., puck location, the score, etc.). In the defensive zone, Trotz runs your standard zone defense. On special teams, the Caps employ a 1-3-1 power play, and a diamond/box hybrid penalty kill depending on puck location and opposition setup.

For more on these systems, check out our Hockey Systems page.

Caps Lines

Alex Ovechkin-Nicklas Backstrom-T.J. Oshie
Marcus Johansson-Evgeny Kuznetsov-Justin Williams
Brett Connolly-Lars Eller-Zachary Sanford
Daniel Winnik-Jay Beagle-Tom Wilson

Karl Alzner-John Carlson
Dmitry Orlov-Matt Niskanen
Brooks Orpik-Nate Schmidt

PP1: Ovechkin-Backstrom-Oshie-Johanssen-Carlson
PP2: Kuznetsov-Winnik-Williams-Orlov-Niskanen

Braden Holtby gets the start.

Rangers Lines 

Chris KreiderMika ZibanejadMats Zuccarello
Jimmy VeseyDerek StepanRick Nash
Michael GrabnerKevin HayesJT Miller
Pavel Buchnevich–Oscar LindbergJesper Fast

Ryan McDonaghDan Girardi
Marc StaalNick Holden
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), Adam Clendening (healthy)

Crazy Prediction: Ovechkin kept off the scoreboard.

Game time is 12:30pm. Gifs are on @blueseatblogs. Be sure to follow our snapchat (blueseatblogs) too!

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