Credit: AP / Paul Sancya)

After a much better performance against Washington on Wednesday, the Rangers are in Detroit to try to build on that win. The biggest change in that game was the improved play at their own blue line. The Rangers stood up and didn’t allow controlled zone entries. That stymied the Caps’ high powered offense.

The other big change was the controlled exits once they had the puck. The Caps weren’t playing aggressively, so the Rangers didn’t have to constantly flip the puck out of the DZ and hope their forwards chased it down. That’s the type of hockey the Rangers are going to need to play to be successful. Luckily Detroit isn’t that good, so they have another game to practice it.

Red Wings Systems

For those that don’t follow Prashanth Iyer, you should. He does a great job breaking down everything Detroit.

The Wings run a 1-2-2 forecheck, which is fairly standard. But Blashill is very aggressive, and encourages the first defenseman to get involved at the blue line, instead of the red line. That means more pressure on the Rangers blue liners to make proper decisions with the puck. The Rangers deploy a similar forecheck, but are less aggressive with their defensemen, preferring to pressure at the red line, instead of the blue line. The risk of Blashill’s scheme is that quick passing can lead to odd-man rushes with that aggressive defenseman.

In the defensive zone, the Wings play a hybrid overload/low zone collapse. They overload the strong side, much like the Rangers. When the puck gets below the goal line, the forwards collapse into low zone coverage. That’s where the Rangers differ, as they switch to man coverage when the puck gets below the goal line. Although it was admittedly hard to see what kind of scheme the Rangers ran early in the year, they’ve been significantly better at their switches lately.

The Wings run a variety of breakouts, all detailed here. This is common for a lot of teams, and the way Prashanth breaks it down is very relevant, as the Rangers play a 1-2-2 forecheck. The Rangers have had a strong forecheck the last few games, so expect them to pressure those first two passes on the breakouts. For more breakout plays, see this post from Suit.

On special teams, the Wings run a 1-3-1 powerplay. This has been standard for multiple teams since the Bolts started using it a few years ago. The Wings don’t have that one sniper they try to feed, so they rely on quick passes to breakdown the penalty kill. Considering how amazing the Rangers’ PK has been, the best bet is to stay out of the box.

On the PK, the Wings are one of the few teams that don’t run some form of hybrid system.They run a straight wedge+1, which is similar to the diamond force the Rangers use. Both have a “roamer” designed to force the play, while the remaining three defenders take out the high percentage shots. The difference is that the Wings will only use their forwards as the “+1” whereas the Rangers will rotate out based on puck location, including defensemen. The wedge is simpler to execute and more conservative, but the diamond force creates more turnovers.

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

Red Wings Lines

Gustav Nyquist-Henrik Zetterberg-Tyler Bertuzzi
Tomas Tatar-Dylan Larkin-Anthony Mantha
Darren Helm-Frans Nielsen-Justin Abdelkader
David Booth-Andreas Athanasiou-Martin Frk

Jonathan Ericsson-Trevor Daley
Dany Dekeyser-Mike Green
Nicklas Kronwall-Nick Jensen

PP1: Tatar-Zetterberg-Nyquist-Abdelkader-Kronwall
PP2: Athanasiou-Larkin-Nielsen-Mantha-Green

Jimmy Howard gets the start.

Rangers Lines

Rick NashMika ZibanejadMats Zuccarello
Pavel Buchnevich-David DesharnaisJimmy Vesey
Michael GrabnerKevin HayesJT Miller
Paul CareyBoo Nieves-Vinny Lettieri

Ryan McDonaghNick Holden
Brady SkjeiKevin Shattenkirk
Marc StaalBrendan Smith

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

Henrik Lundqvist gets the start.

Scratches/Injuries: Steven Kampfer (healthy), Jesper Fast (quad), Chris Kreider (blood clot)

Crazy Prediction: Lettieri scores in his debut.

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

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