The Rangers are off to a woeful 1-5-1 start to the season. The Isles aren’t much better, but don’t look like the train wreck that is on Broadway right now. That said, the Rangers are pretty due for an offensive outburst, with a shooting percentage of 4% likely going to right itself sooner rather than later.
Consistency is the key for the Rangers. That and eliminating brain farts. The Penguins game was full of those, and it was a winnable game. They had a poor start and a worse finish. Fix those areas, and they might come away with two points. They need it right now, as they sit in dead last in the East.
Isles Systems
I haven’t had much time to really look at the Isles under Doug Weight. On the forecheck, they appear to rotate between a 2-1-2 and a 1-2-2, but use both aggressively. In the defensive zone, it looked like an aggressive zone, likely a hybrid strong side overload/zone. On the penalty kill, it looks like a wedge+1. The powerplay is mostly overload, but they work in a 1-3-1 every now and then.
Islanders Lines
Anders Lee-John Tavares-Jordan Eberle
Andrew Ladd-Matt Barzal-Josh Bailey
Jason Chimera-Brock Nelson-Josh Ho-Sang
Nikolay Kulemin-Casey Cizikas-Cal Clutterbuck
Nick Leddy-Johnny Boychuck
Calvin de Haan-Adam Pelech
Thomas Hickey-Scott Mayfield
PP1: Lee-Tavares-Eberle-Leddy-Boychuck
PP2: Ladd-Nelson-Barzal-Bailey-Pelech
Jaro Halak gets the start.
Rangers Lines
Rick Nash-Mika Zibanejad-Mats Zuccarello
Chris Kreider-David Desharnais-JT Miller
Jimmy Vesey-Kevin Hayes-Jesper Fast
Michael Grabner-Adam Cracknell-Pavel Buchnevich
Ryan McDonagh-Tony DeAngelo
Brady Skjei-Brendan Smith
Marc Staal-Kevin Shattenkirk
PP1: Zibanejad-Kreider-Buchnevich-Zuccarello-Shattenkirk
PP2: Nash-Desharnais-Miller-Vesey-McDonagh
Henrik Lundqvist gets the start.
Scratches/Injuries: Nick Holden (healthy), Steven Kampfer (healthy)
Crazy Prediction: I’m honestly running low on these because this team has me a little depressed. I dunno – how about AV reunites the KZB line.
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