Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press via AP

The Rangers are in Ottawa today in a battle of the tanking teams. The Senators are exploring trades with Derick Brassard, Mike Hoffman, and Erik Karlsson. Meanwhile the Rangers are exploring trades with basically the entire roster. The Sens did strike first in the trade market, sending Dion Phaneuf and Nate Thompson to LA for Marian Gaborik and Drew Shore. That wasn’t a sell move as much as it was a cost savings move.

Anywho, the Rangers and Sens are tanking teams that are going to sell at the deadline. Much of what we see today won’t be the final roster in April. Such a shame really, for two teams that put on a show in the playoffs last year. Yea, that series stunk for the Rangers, but the games were probably fun to watch for anyone who didn’t have an emotional attachment to either team.

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

Mike Hoffman-Matt Duchene-Marian Gaborik
Zack Smith-Derick Brassard-Mark Stone
Magnus Paajarvi-Jean-Gabriel Pageau-Tom Pyatt
Ryan Dzingel-Drew Shore-Colin White

Johnny Oduya-Erik Karlsson
Ben Harpur-Cody Ceci
Mark Boroweicki-Thomas Chabot

PP1: Duchene-Hoffman-Brassard-Stone-Karlsson
PP2: Pageau-Dzingel-Gaborik-Ceci(?)-Chabot

Craig Anderson gets the start.

Rangers Lines 

Rick NashMika ZibanejadMats Zuccarello
Michael Grabner–JT Miller-Pavel Buchnevich
Jimmy VeseyDavid DesharnaisJesper Fast
Cody McLeod-Peter HollandPaul Carey

Brady SkjeiNeal Pionk
Nick HoldenTony DeAngelo
John GilmourRyan Sproul

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), Marc Staal (cervical sprain), Ryan McDonagh (lingering something or other), Ondrej Pavelec (knee), Steven Kampfer (hand), Kevin Hayes (Something)

Crazy Prediction: Someone gets traded mid-game, doesn’t matter which team it’s from.

Game time is 2pm. Be sure to follow on our Snapchat for in-game shenanigans.

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