I find it rather humorous that we are in this situation, talking about a possible sweep. The Rangers blew a bunch of two-goal leads in the first two games, but both games went to overtime. They lost both, but a bounce here or there, and we are having a different conversation. That’s the way the puck bounces sometimes. But getting swept would end such a great run on a sour note. Please win tonight.
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
Carl Hagelin-Derek Stepan–Rick Nash
Chris Kreider-Dominic Moore-Martin St. Louis
Benoit Pouliot–Derick Brassard–Mats Zuccarello
Brian Boyle-Brad Richards-Derek Dorsett
Defense
Ryan McDonagh–Dan Girardi
Marc Staal–Anton Stralman
John Moore–Kevin Klein
Henrik Lundqvist gets the start.
Scratches/Injuries: J.T. Miller (healthy), Justin Falk (healthy), Dan Carcillo (healthy), Raphael Diaz (healthy)
Game time is 8pm on NBCSN. Don’t forget to check out our Rangers Tickets link for deals to attend games.
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