Photo: Andrew Theodorakis/New York Daily News
Six days after winning the Eastern Conference, the Ranger are in Los Angeles to take on the Kings in Game One of the Stanley Cup Finals. It’s been a bumpy road to get here, and their opponent is a great one, but these Rangers will always stand a chance as long as Henrik Lundqvist is in net. If there’s a game to take in LA, it’s this one, as the Kings are on two days rest, one of them being a travel day.
Daryl Sutter has the Kings playing a system similar to that of John Tortorella’s Rangers. They generally run an aggressive overload 2-1-2 forecheck (forecheckers attack the same side of the ice) and they play a 2-1-2 zone defense off the wall (two guys take the hit zone, one takes the support zone, two have the slot). Once the puck moves up high, depending on the matchup, they’ll attack the blue line or collapse their forwards. They play a hybrid penalty kill, and a 1-3-1/modified umbrella on the powerplay.
Kevin did a complete preview and breakdown of this series here. Justin looked at Jonathan Quick and some deficiencies in his game here.
Rangers Lines:
Forwards
Chris Kreider–Derek Stepan–Rick Nash
Carl Hagelin–Brad Richards–Martin St. Louis
Benoit Pouliot–Derick Brassard–Mats Zuccarello
Brian Boyle–Dominic Moore–Derek Dorsett
Defense
Ryan McDonagh–Dan Girardi
Marc Staal–Anton Stralman
Raphael Diaz-Kevin Klein
Henrik Lundqvist gets the start.
Scratches/Injuries: J.T. Miller (shoulder), Justin Falk (healthy), Dan Carcillo (suspension), John Moore (suspension)
Game time is 8pm on NBC. Don’t forget to check out our Rangers Tickets link for deals to attend games.
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