Game 29: Rebound and gain ground in the division

Ed Mulholland/USA Today Sports, via Reuters

The Rangers lost last night to the Caps, but beat Pittsburgh earlier in the week. Tonight they face off against the surprising Devils, in an attempt to end this three game run in the division with a winning record. It won’t be easy, since the Devils, picked by everyone to finish last, were just bumped from first last night. Who woulda thunk?

The Blueshirts got thoroughly thrashed against Washington, and now face a tough challenge of a back-to-back against a team with strong goaltending, a good top line, and now got stronger with the addition of Sami Vatanen. The Devils have depth issues, and that is where the Blueshirts are going to need to do their damage.

Devils Systems

John Hynes has his club running a 1-2-2 forecheck, a low zone collapse, an umbrealla powerplay and a hybrid penalty kill. These are standard systems across the board, and are not very aggressive in nature. The Devils will look to sit and force turnovers in the neutral zone on the forecheck, then collapse to block shots and defend the high priced real estate in the defensive zone. Considering the team, conservative is probably his best bet.

For more on these systems, check out our Hockey Systems page.

Devils Lines

Taylor Hall-Nico Hischier-Jesper Bratt
Marcus Johanssen-Travis Zajac-Stefan Noesen
Miles Wood-Brian Boyle-Jimmy Hayes
Brian Gibbons-Blake Coleman-Drew Stafford

Andy Greene-Sami Vatanen
John Moore-Damon Severson
Will Butcher-Steven Santini

PP1: Hall-Boyle-Bratt-Hayes-Butcher
PP2: Johansen-Hischier-Stafford-Severson-Severson

Keith Kinkaid gets the start.

Rangers Lines

Chris Kreider–David Desharnais–Pavel Buchnevich
Jimmy Vesey–Kevin Hayes–Rick Nash
Michael Grabner–JT Miller–Mats Zuccarello
Paul Carey–Boo Nieves–Jesper Fast