Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press via AP
The Rangers have won seven of eight, and are now hosting their likely first round opponent in Montreal tonight. Montreal is fresh off a coaching change, swapping out Michel Therrien for Claude Julien. That’s a major upgrade for them.
It’s tough to predict how Julien’s Habs are going to play, but looking at the lineups it appears the Rangers probably have the edge on paper. The Habs are certainly a top-heavy flawed team being carried by their goaltender, much like Rangers teams of the past. I honestly don’t remember any time where Lundqvist vs. Price turned into a goalie showdown. Would love to see one.
Habs Systems
Michel Therrien is out in Montreal. New boss Claude Julien has taken the reins. When in Boston, Julien had the Bruins playing an aggressive 2-1-2 forecheck early and then a more conservative 1-4 or 1-1-3 lock later with a lead. In the defensive zone, the Bs played a low zone collapse, defending in layers depending on puck location. On special teams, it was an umbrella power play and a wedge+1/diamond force penalty kill where they pressured for turnovers.
It’s safe to assume Julien uses these types of systems in Montreal, since Therrien played similar systems before he was terminated.
For more on these systems, check out our Hockey Systems page.
Habs Lines
Max Pacioretty-Philippe Danault-Alex Radulov
Paul Byron-Alex Galchenyuk-Brendan Gallagher
Artturi Lehkonen-Tomas Plekanec-Andrew Shaw
Brian Flynn-Michael McCarron-Torrey Mitchell
Alexei Emelin-Shea Weber
Andrei Markov-Jeff Petry
Nathan Beaulieu-Greg Pateryn
PP1: Pacioretty-Shaw-Radulov-Markov-Weber
PP2: Gallagher-Plekanec-Galchenyuk-Beaulieu-Petry
Carey Price 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
Henrik Lundqvist gets the start.
Injuries/Scratches: Brandon Pirri (healthy), Matt Puempel (healthy), Adam Clendening (healthy)
Crazy Prediction: A shutout for Hank.
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