rangers leafs mika zibanejad

After Thursday night’s disappointing loss, the Rangers are in Toronto to take on the very talented Leafs. This team has playoffs and potentially Stanley Cup aspirations. The Leafs top-nine can score almost at will, so the Rangers’ blue liners will seemingly have their hands full all night. As will Henrik Lundqvist.

If the Leafs have a weakness, it’s their blue line. Ron Hainsey plays on the top pair, and he is not a top pairing defenseman. The Blueshirts’ forwards should get ample space, like they did against Colorado. The difference is going to be finishing. Two goals won’t cut it in this league. Need to put the biscuit in the net.

Leafs Systems

Mike Babcock plays a 2-1-2 forecheck/LW lock depending on game situation. In their own zone, it was a straight up zone defense. On the PP, it was an umbrella and a 1-3-1 formation. On the penalty kill they changed up their strategy depending on the opposition’s setup. Pretty straight forward for a team lacking skill.

Leafs Lines

Zach Hyman-Auston Matthews-William Nylander
James van Riemsdyk-Tyler Bozak-Mitch Marner
Patrick Marleau-Nazem Kadri-Leo Komarov
Matt Martin-Dominic Moore-Connor Brown

Morgan Reilly-Ron Hainsey
Jake Gardiner-Nikita Zaitsev
Calle Rosen-Connor Carrick

Frederik Andersen gets the start.

Rangers Lines

Chris Kreider-Mika Zibanejad-Pavel Buchnevich
Rick Nash-Filip Chytil-Mats Zuccarello
Michael Grabner-Kevin Hayes-JT Miller
Jimmy Vesey-David Desharnais-Paul Carey

Ryan McDonagh-Kevin Shattenkirk
Brady Skjei-Brendan Smith
Marc Staal-Tony DeAngelo

PP1: Zibanejad-Kreider-Buchnevich-Zuccarello-Shattenkirk
PP2: Nash-Desharnais-Miller-McDonagh-DeAngelo

Henrik Lundqvist gets the start.

Crazy Prediction: A Lundqvist shutout.

Game time is 7pm.

Share: 

More About: