The Rangers dropped Game 1 in Ottawa, and are now looking to salvage the split and prevent going in an 0-2 hole. The Senators are not the Habs, and you can argue are better than the Habs. Trade deadline acquisitions strengthened the bottom-six, and Clarke MacCarthur’s return added extra scoring bite. The Rangers, used to the slow Habs, looked sluggish in Game 1, and that will need to change in Game 2.
What won’t need to change is how well Henrik Lundqvist has been playing. As long as the Rangers can score two, he will ensure they at least have a chance to win. He’s been near perfect these playoffs so far, forced to make some spectacular saves regularly. His counterpart, Craig Anderson, wasn’t tested much in Game 1. The Rangers will look to change that today, as they will need to get back to their speed game and break through that 1-1-3 neutral zone trap the Senators use.
Series Breakdown
We wrote a whole bunch of posts breaking down this matchup. Be sure to check them out:
Systems Breakdown
Forwards Breakdown
Defense Breakdown
Goaltender Breakdown
Senators Lines
Ryan Dzingel-Kyle Turris-Alex Burrows
Clarke MacCarthur-Derick Brassard–Bobby Ryan
Mike Hoffman-Jean-Gabriel Pageau-Mark Stone
Viktor Stalberg-Zack Smith-Tommy Wingels
Marc Methot-Erik Karlsson
Dion Phaneuf-Cody Cedi
Ben Harpur-Frederik Claesson
PP1: Stone-Turris-Burrows-Karlsson-Phaneuf
PP2: MacCarthur-Brassard-Ryan-Hoffman-Claesson
Craig Anderson gets the start
Rangers Lines
Chris Kreider–Mika Zibanejad–Pavel Buchnevich
Jimmy Vesey–Derek Stepan–Rick Nash
JT Miller–Kevin Hayes–Mats Zuccarello
Michael Grabner–Oscar Lindberg–Jesper Fast
Ryan McDonagh–Dan Girardi
Marc Staal–Nick Holden
Brady Skjei–Brendan Smith
PP1: Zibanejad-Buchnevich-Kreider-Zuccarello-McDonagh
PP2: Stepan-Hayes-Nash-Miller-Skjei
Henrik Lundvist gets the start.
Crazy Prediction: No penalties against.
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