The Rangers are out West tonight, taking on the LA Kings. This is not the same Kings team that has been perennial Cup contenders. This Kings team is old, slow, and is not making the playoffs. They are a product of bad contracts and a misunderstanding of how the game has evolved to speed and skill over toughness. Their time came (two Cups) and has since left.
As for the Rangers, they are starting to get healthy. Dan Girardi returns tonight. Henrik Lundqvist will return tomorrow. Kevin Klein is coming back on this trip. The Blueshirts have a rare opportunity to get the injured players up to speed while resting some others than may need a game or two off. These games –at least the results– are meaningless. What matters most is process. Forecheck, good defense, better special teams. Get that working, and there is long term success waiting.
Kings Systems
Daryl Sutter has the Kings playing a system similar to that of John Tortorella’s Rangers. They generally run an aggressive overload 2-1-2 forecheck (forecheckers attack the same side of the ice) and they play a 2-1-2 zone defense off the wall (two guys take the hit zone, one takes the support zone, two have the slot). Once the puck moves up high, depending on the matchup, they’ll attack the blue line or collapse their forwards. They play a hybrid penalty kill, and a 1-3-1/modified umbrella on the powerplay.
Kings Lines
Marian Gaborik-Anze Kopitar-Jarome Iginla
Tanner Pearson-Jeff Carter-Tyler Toffoli
Adrian Kempe-Nic Dowd-Jonny Brodzinski
Andy Andreoff-Trevor Lewis-Dustin Brown
Derek Forbort-Drew Doughty
Brayden McNabb-Alec Martinez
Jake Muzzin-Paul Ladue
PP1: Carter-Kopitar-Toffoli-Doughty-Muzzin
PP2: Iginla-Dowd-Gaborik-Ladue-Martinez
Jonathan Quick gets the start.
Rangers Lines
JT Miller–Mika Zibanejad–Rick Nash
Chris Kreider–Derek Stepan–Mats Zuccarello
Michael Grabner–Kevin Hayes–Jesper Fast
Pavel Buchnevich–Oscar Lindberg–Jimmy Vesey
Ryan McDonagh–Dan Girardi
Marc Staal–Nick Holden
Brady Skjei–Brendan Smith
PP1: Zibanejad-Buchnevich-Vesey-Miller-McDonagh
PP2: Stepan-Hayes-Kreider-Zuccarello-Clendening
Antti Raanta gets the start.
Injuries/Scratches: Kevin Klein (back), Adam Clendening (healthy) Steven Kampfer (healthy), Matt Puempel (healthy), Brandon Pirri (healthy), Tanner Glass (healthy)
Crazy Prediction: A Girardi goal in his return.
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