Photo: Chris O’Meara/AP
The Rangers are in a complete free fall, but luck out as the woeful Ducks come to town. Anaheim can’t score, which is odd considering all that talent. They are shooting 4.5%, which probably has a lot to do with it. This is another one of those games where the Rangers really need to get back to proper process. They haven’t been playing the right way all year.
Tonight also marks the return of Carl Hagelin to MSG. Hagelin, drafted by the Rangers in the sixth round of the 2007 draft, played four seasons in New York before being the first major cap casualty for the Rangers. Hagelin was sent to Anaheim at the draft for Emerson Etem, a deal which saw the Rangers save $3 million in cap space. It was a necessary evil of the cap era.
Hagelin’s return will be the story, but the Rangers need to get a win before the holiday break.
Ducks Systems
Bruce Boudreau’s Ducks employ an aggressive 1-2-2 forecheck. They are not afraid to get the D involved in the rush and will look to fly the zone early if there’s a chance for a break. Once they get a late lead, the Ducks tend to sit back use their 1-2-2 more conservatively. Overall, this is comparable to AV’s system.
They are moderately aggressive when it comes to defensive zone schemes sending a forward to challenge the points while everyone else collapses in the zone and overload the half boards. Their powerplay strategy is a 1-3-1. Their penalty kill formation is generally a diamond force, which sends a player high to challenge the point.
Ducks Lines
Patrick Maroon-Ryan Getzlaf-Corey Perry
Jiri Sekac-Rickard Rakell-Jakob Silfverberg
Carl Hagelin-Ryan Kesler-Andrew Cogliano
Mike Santorelli-Shawn Horcoff-Chris Stewart
Cam Fowler-Kevin Bieksa
Hampus Lindholm-Josh Manson
Korbinian Holzer-Sami Vatanen
PP1: Perry-Getzlaf-Kesler-Sekac-Fowler
PP2: Perry-Getzlaf-Sekac-Fowler-Vatanen
PK: Kesler, Silfverberg, Cogliano, Horcoff, Hagelin, Bieksa, Fowler, Manson, Lindholm, Vatanen
John Gibson gets the start.
Rangers Lines
Rick Nash–Derek Stepan–Jesper Fast
Chris Kreider–Derick Brassard–Mats Zuccarello
Oscar Lindberg–Kevin Hayes–J.T. Miller
Tanner Glass–Dominic Moore–Emerson Etem
Marc Staal–Ryan McDonagh
Keith Yandle–Dylan McIlrath
Chris Summers–Dan Boyle
PP1: Nash-Zuccarello-Brassard-Boyle-McDonagh
PP2: Kreider-Hayes-Stepan-Yandle-Miller
PK: Nash, Stepan, Moore, Lindberg, Fast, McDonagh, Staal, Boyle, Yandle
Henrik Lundqvist is in net.
Scratches/Injuries: Dan Girardi (knee), Kevin Klein (abdominal strain), Viktor Stalberg (healthy)
Crazy Prediction: The Rangers contain the high powered Caps offense and shut them out. Hagelin and Etem fight each other.
Be sure to check out our ticket link if you’re looking for tickets to the game. Game time is 7pm on MSG. All gifs will be on nyrgifs.com.
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