AP Photo/Rick Scuteri
After a good win in Washington, the Rangers are back home to take on an Arizona Coyotes team that is better on paper than their record would indicate. The Yotes have been victimized by terrible goaltending early on, allowing a whopping 18 goals through four games. I admittedly haven’t watched much of the Yotes this season, but on paper their blue line is good, so it leads me to believe their goaltending is failing them early on. I could be wrong, though.
As for the Rangers, they just limited the Caps to two goals. Considering the porous defense and mediocre goaltending they had received prior, this is a very good sign for them. If the Rangers can shore up play in their own zone while continuing to score at this pace, they will be tough to beat. Plus, Henrik Lundqvist won’t play to a sub-.900 SV% for very long. He’s a slow starter anyway.
Yotes Systems
On the ice, Dave Tippett runs a very conservative style of play. The Coyotes run a 1-2-2 hybrid trap, which is something they’ve been running for some time down in the desert. They aren’t anything out of they ordinary when it comes to defensive zone schemes (zone defense), power play strategies (umbrella), or penalty kill formations (hybrid, depends on puck location/situation). This is a very passive hockey club that will capitalize on mistakes in the neutral zone.
For more on these systems, check out our Hockey Systems page.
Yotes Lines (presumed)
Tobias Rieder-Martin Hanzal-Radim Vrbata
Max Domi-Dylan Strome-Anthony Duclair
Jordan Martinook-Brad Richardson-Shane Doan
Lawson Crouse-Laurent Dauphin-Ryan White
Oliver Ekman-Larsson-Connor Murphy
Alex Goligoski-Michael Stone
Jakob Chychrun-Luke Schenn
PP1: Duclair-Domi-Hanzal-Vrbata-OEL
PP2: Rieder-Strome-Doan-Murphy-Goligoski
Louis Domingue gets the start.
Rangers Lines (presumed – this was written in the morning):
Jimmy Vesey–Derek Stepan–Rick Nash
Chris Kreider–Mika Zibanejad–Mats Zuccarello
J.T. Miller–Kevin Hayes–Michael Grabner
Brandon Pirri–Josh Jooris–Jesper Fast
Ryan McDonagh–Nick Holden
Marc Staal–Kevin Klein
Brady Skjei–Adam Clendening
PP1: DJ ZBad-Kreider-Pirri-Zucc-McDonagh
PP2: Nash-Stepan-Vesey-Hayes-Clendening
Henrik Lundqvist gets the start.
Injuries/Scratches: Oscar Lindberg (hip), Dan Girardi (hip), Pavel Buchnevich (back), Dylan McIlrath (healthy)
Crazy Prediction: Seven goals for the Rangers.
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