The Rangers are in Vancouver tonight for a late night game against the Canucks. The Canucks are not a good team, and the Rangers should be looking to build on their strong performance on Sunday night. It is December after all, and this is usually when the Rangers start turning it on. It’s a bit weird that the Rangers don’t get it all together until December, but it’s been the trend the last two years.
The goal of this game shouldn’t just be to win, since Vancouver isn’t good, but to dominate and dictate the flow of the game. This means doing the little things properly and getting shot attempts. It’s about proper back checking and small passes out of the defensive zone. Winning puck battles in the corner and transitioning to offense/getting more shot attempts. Playing the game properly with good process and execution is the most important battle.
Canucks Systems
On the forecheck, the Canucks employ an overload 1-2-2, which is what the Rangers run. They also play a man-on-man defense depending on puck location. On special teams, they run a 1-3-1 power play and rotate between a box and diamond penalty kill depending on puck location.
Canucks Lines
Daniel Sedin-Henrik Sedin-Jannik Hansen
Ronalds Kenins-Bo Horvat-Radim Vrbata
Sven Baertschi-Adam Cracknell-Alex Burrows
Brandon Prust-Jared McCann-Derek Dorsett
Alex Edler-Chris Tanev
Dan Hamhuis-Alex Biega
Ben Hutton-Matt Bartkowski
PP1: Burrows-Sedin-Vrbata-Sedin-Edler
PP2: Baertschi-Horvat-Hansen-Tanev-Hutton
PK: Horvat, Hansen, Burrows, Sedin, Sedin, Prust, Edler, Hamhuis, Bartkowski, Tanev
Ryan Miller gets the start.
Rangers Lines
Chris Kreider–Oscar Lindberg–Rick Nash
Kevin Hayes–Derick Brassard–Mats Zuccarello
J.T. Miller–Dominic Moore–Jesper Fast
Tanner Glass–Jarret Stoll–Viktor Stalberg
Ryan McDonagh–Dan Girardi
Marc Staal–Dan Boyle
Keith Yandle–Dylan McIlrath
PP1: Nash-??-Zuccarello, Brassard-McDonagh
PP2: Kreider-Hayes-Lindberg, Yandle-??
PK: Nash, Stoll, Lindberg, Moore, Fast, Girardi, McDonagh, Staal, Boyle
Henrik Lundqvist is in net.
Scratches/Injuries: Derek Stepan (ribs), Emerson Etem (healthgy), Kevin Klein(abdominal strain)
Crazy Prediction: Glass scores (leaving this here until he does).
Be sure to check out our ticket link if you’re looking for tickets to the game. Game time is 10pm on MSG. All gifs will be on nyrgifs.com.
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