The Rangers are at home tonight to take on Montreal in what is a likely playoff –potentially first round– matchup. The Habs added Jordie Benn and Dwight King at the trade deadline, rounding out the bottom of the lineup. They still lack scoring talent, which is going to be their Achilles Heel.
As for the Rangers, Brendan Smith is still getting acquainted to the lineup and the system. It’s not a quick lesson either. He will have ups and downs for a little bit. The good news is that the Rangers have 15 games this month for him to learn the system. I’m not overly concerned.
As for the game itself, process is more important than results. If the Rangers can use their skill advantage, which is significant, then they should be able to dominate the chances. Dominate scoring chances, and it bodes well for a seven game series.
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
Artturi Lehkonen-Alex Galchenyuk-Brendan Gallagher
Paul Byron-Tomas Plekanec-Andrew Shaw
Dwight King-Michael McCarron-Torrey Mitchell
Andrei Markov-Shea Weber
Alexei Emelin-Jeff Petry
Nathan Beaulieu-Jordie Benn
PP1: Galchenyuk-Shaw-Radulov-Markov-Weber
PP2: Pacioretty-Danault-Gallagher-Beaulieu-Petry
Carey Price gets the start
Rangers Lines (presumed)
Chris Kreider-Derek Stepan–Mats Zuccarello
Pavel Buchnevich-Mika Zibanejad–Rick Nash
Jimmy Hayes–Kevin Hayes–JT Miller
Brandon Pirri–Oscar Lindberg–Matt Puempel
Ryan McDonagh–Brendan Smith
Marc Staal–Nick Holden
Brady Skjei–Adam Clendening
PP1: Zibanejad-Buchnevich-Nash-Miller-McDonagh
PP2: Stepan-Miller-Kreider-Zuccarello-Holden
Henrik Lundvist gets the start.
Injuries/Scratches: Jesper Fast (shoulder), Michael Grabner (hip) Kevin Klein (back), Dan Girardi (ankle)
Crazy Prediction: Buchnevich has a second straight mult-point night.
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