After the strong effort on Friday night, the Rangers are in Winnipeg to take on a very strong Jets team that is a serious playoff contender. The Jets have a very deep forward group and have been getting strong goaltending. The injury to Jacob Trouba weakens the blue line, but it’s still a solid d-corps as well.
The Blueshirts actually played well on Friday, putting together an effort that was reminiscent of the good old days when it looked like they actually cared. Stringing them together is going to be the trick if they want to stay relevant, even during the eventual fire sale. But hey, weirder things have happened.
Jets Systems
Paul Maurice and the Jets play a 1-2-2 forecheck which can be used aggressively or conservatively depending on game situation (e.g., puck location, matchup, time left on the clock, score, etc.). In the defensive zone, the Jets play a zone defense, with five skaters getting sticks and bodies in lanes.
On special teams, the Jets play an umbrella PP and will look to crash the net after a shot. On the PK, the Jets play a rotating box and look to defend homeplate. For more on the systems, click here.
Jets Lines
Mathieu Perreault-Mark Schiefele-Blake Wheeler
Nikolaj Ehlers-Bryan Little-Patrick Laine
Kyle Connor-Andrew Copp-Joel Armia
Marko Dano-Nick Petan-Jack Roslovic
Josh Morrissey-Tyler Myers
Toby Enstrom-Dustin Byfuglien
Ben Chiarot-Dmitry Kulikov
PP1: Connor-Schiefele-Laine-Wheeler-Byfuglien
PP2: Ehlers-Little-Armia-Perreault-Myers
Connor Hellebuyck gets the start.
Rangers Lines
Rick Nash–Mika Zibanejad–Mats Zuccarello
JT Miller–David Desharnais–Jesper Fast
Michael Grabner–Kevin Hayes–Vinny Lettieri
Cody McLeod-Peter Holland–Paul Carey
Brady Skjei–Steven Kampfer
Nick Holden–Tony DeAngelo
John Gilmour–Neal Pionk
PP1: Nash-Zuccarello-Zibanejad-Miller-Skjei
PP2: Hayes-Desharnais-Lettieri-Gilmour-DeAngelo
Henrik Lundqvist gets the start.
Scratches/Injuries: Chris Kreider (blood clot), Kevin Shattenkirk (knee), Pavel Buchnevich (concussion), Jimmy Vesey (concussion), Marc Staal (cervical sprain), Ryan McDonagh (lingering something or other), Ondrej Pavelec (knee)
Crazy Prediction: A second straight strong effort.
Game time is 3pm. Be sure to follow on our Snapchat for in-game shenanigans.
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