chris kreider rangers senators

Credit: AP / Fred Chartrand

The Rangers played one of the worst defensive games in the post-lockout era against Dallas on Monday. That is no hyperbole either. Based on shot differentials, both attempts and on-goal, it was in the top-ten of worst defensive performances. So even a bad Rangers effort is an improvement tonight.

Luckily for the Rangers, they face the hapless Senators tonight in what is surely another trap game. The Sens are already in sell mode, fielding offers for basically everyone except for Mark Stone and –rumored– Derick Brassard.

Sens Systems

The good thing about facing the Sens is that I wrote a detailed piece about the systems that Guy Boucher runs, which you should check out here.

The Cliff Notes version: Guy Boucher runs a 1-1-3 neutral zone forecheck, sending one man in deep with one at the blue line to capitalize off turnovers. They leave three men by the red line to clog the neutral zone and disrupt any speedy breakouts.

In the defensive zone, Boucher runs a standard overload/zone system. The zone will look like an overload, and naturally the look will change depending on puck location. They will likely shift to a box+1 if the puck is behind the net.

On special teams, Boucher runs a standard hybrid 1-3-1/umbrella power play and box/diamond penalty kill. Nothing unusual here.

Senators Lines

Zack Smith-Derick Brassard-Mark Stone
Bobby Ryan-Matt Duchene-Ryan Dzingel
Mike Hoffman-Jean-Gabriel Pageau-Gabriel Dumont
Alex Burrows-Nate Thompson-Tom Pyatt

Johnny Oduya-Erik Karlsson
Dion Phaneuf-Cody Ceci
Frederick Claesson-Ben Harpur

PP1: Stone-Hoffman-Brassard-Burrows-Karlsson
PP2: Duchene-Dzingel-DiDomenico-Ryan-Phaneuf

Craig Anderson gets the start.

Rangers Lines

Chris KreiderDavid DesharnaisPavel Buchnevich
Jimmy VeseyKevin HayesRick Nash
Michael GrabnerJT MillerMats Zuccarello
Paul CareyBoo NievesJesper Fast

Ryan McDonaghNick Holden
Brady SkjeiKevin Shattenkirk
Marc StaalBrendan Smith

PP1: Kreider-Zuccarello-Desharnais-Buchnevich-Shattenkirk
PP2: Nash-Miller-Vesey-Hayes-McDonagh

Henrik Lundqvist gets the start.

Scratches/Injuries: Mika Zibanejad (concussion), Steven Kampfer (healthy)

Crazy Prediction: Brassard defects to the Rangers.

Game time is 7pm. Be sure to follow on Twitter for gifs, and on our Snapchat for in-game.

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