Photo: AP

The Rangers are playing host to the Flyers tonight in another meaningless game for the Blueshirts. The Flyers are officially out of the playoffs, which is always nice to see. That said, they’d probably love to keep the reeling Rangers from gaining momentum for a potential playoff run.

The Rangers are going to be without Ryan McDonagh again tonight. So there’s a good chance we cringe a lot with the defensive play. Boy, it’s amazing how big of a hole McDonagh leaves when he isn’t in the lineup. At least the Flyers are on the second of a back to back, so that plays into the Rangers’ favor.

Flyers Systems

Dave Hakstol runs a 1-2-2 forecheck, and a low zone collapse in the defensive zone. The PP is probably a 1-3-1/umbrella hybrid, and the PK is probably a hybrid as well. For more on hockey systems, follow this link.

The Flyers’ depth can be exploited in the right situation.

Flyers Lines

Travis Konecny-Claude Giroux-Jakub Voracek
Jordan Weal-Valtteri Filppula-Wayne Simmonds
Dale Weise-Sean Couturier-Brayden Schon
Chris Vandevelde-Pierre-Edouard Bellemare-Colin McDonald

Ivan Provorov-Andrew MacDonald
Michael Del Zotto-Shayne Gostisbehere
Brandon Manning-Radko Gudas

PP1: Giroux-Schenn-Simmonds-Voracek-Gostisbehere
PP2: Filppula-Couturier-Konecny-Weal-Provorov

Steve Mason gets the start.

Rangers Lines

Chris Kreider–Derek Stepan–Mats Zuccarello
Jimmy Vesey–Mika Zibanejad–Rick Nash
Michael Grabner–Kevin Hayes–Jesper Fast
JT Miller–Oscar Lindberg–Tanner Glass

Marc Staal–Kevin Klein
Brady Skjei–Dan Girardi
Brendan Smith–Nick Holden

PP1: Zibanejad-Buchnevich-Nash-Miller-McDonagh
PP2: Stepan-Hayes-Kreider-Zuccarello-Skjei

Henrik Lundqvist gets the start.

Injuries/Scratches: Ryan McDonagh (undisclosed, day to day, not serious),  Adam Clendening (healthy) Steven Kampfer (healthy), Pavel Buchnevich (healthy), Brandon Pirri (healthy), Matt Puempel (healthy)

Crazy Prediction: A night where we don’t cringe at a play the defense makes

Game time is 7:30pm. Gifs are on @blueseatblogs. Be sure to follow our snapchat (blueseatblogs) too!

Share: 

More About: