The Rangers have a rare opportunity tonight. They can go up 2-0 on the Habs, taking both games on the road. All of the pressure is on the Habs.
That said, the rangers are going to need to repeat the performance from Game One. That is for everyone, up and down the lineup. Forechecking, defense, goaltending, forwards. Everyone.
We’ve spent the entire week breaking down this matchup, you can check all those posts here. But for all the analysis, all the breakdowns, it’s execution on the ice that matters most.
Habs Systems
Claude Julien is one of the top coaches in the game. He gets his team to play consistent team defense, and it has worked in Montreal. He starts with 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 he keeps it simple with a low zone collapse, defending in layers depending on puck location. On special teams, it’s again simple with an umbrella power play (perhaps a little 1-3-1 sprinkled in) and a wedge+1/diamond force penalty kill where they pressured for turnovers.
For more on these systems, check out our Hockey Systems page.
Disclaimer: I’m on vacation, this was written on Saturday when I left. These are the lines I assumed started Game One. Guessing there will be modifications for Game Two.
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)
JT Miller–Mika Zibanejad–Rick Nash
Chris Kreider–Derek Stepan–Mats Zuccarello
Michael Grabner–Kevin Hayes–Jesper Fast
Tanner Glass–Oscar Lindberg–Jimmy Vesey
Ryan McDonagh–Dan Girardi
Marc Staal–Nick Holden
Brady Skjei–Brendan Smith
PP1: Zibanejad-Buchnevich-Nash-Miller-McDonagh
PP2: Stepan-Miller-Kreider-Zuccarello-Holden
Henrik Lundvist gets the start.
Crazy Prediction: A perfect special teams performance.
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