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 Nash–Mika Zibanejad–Mats Zuccarello
Michael Grabner–JT Miller-Pavel Buchnevich
Jimmy Vesey–David Desharnais–Jesper Fast
Cody McLeod-Peter Holland–Paul Carey
Brady Skjei–Neal Pionk
Nick Holden–Tony DeAngelo
John Gilmour–Ryan 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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