neal pionk henrik lundqvist rangers wild

After surrendering 900 shots to Montreal last night, the Rangers are in action tonight at home against Minnesota. Michael Grabner is gone. Rick Nash has played his last game as a Ranger (at least for this season). The Rangers allow a ton of shots, and that won’t change this year. May as well take shots as well. However I do not recommend taking a shot for every shot the Rangers allow. We enjoy people when they are alive, generally speaking.

The Rangers are only going to get worse, so there’s no real reason to stress over these games. It’s a weird feeling, not stressing over how the Blueshirts are playing. I can appreciate this zen. Enhance your zen. Watch the trades. Fuel the tank.

Wild Systems

Bruce Boudreau likes to stay aggressive with his schemes. He runs an aggressive 1-2-2 forecheck. The defense are not afraid to get involved in the rush, looking to fly the zone early if there’s a chance for a break.  With a late lead, he will sit back use their 1-2-2 more conservatively. Overall, this is comparable to AV’s system.

When it comes to defensive zone schemes, the Wild will send a forward to challenge the points while everyone else collapses in the zone and overloads 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.

Wild Lines 

Nino Niederreiter-Eric Staal-Tyler Ennis
Jason Zucker-Mikko Koivu-Mikael Granlund
Zach Parise-Matt Cullen-Charlie Coyle
Marcus Foligno-Joel Eriksson Ek-Daniel Winnik

Ryan Suter-Jared Spurgeon
Gustav Olofsson-Matt Dumba
Mike Reilly-Nate Prosser

PP1: Niederreiter-Staal-Parise-Dumba-Reilly
PP2: Granlund-Koivu-Zucker-Suter-Spurgeon

Devan Dubnyk gets the start.

Rangers Lines 

Mats ZuccarelloMika ZibanejadPavel Buchnevich
Jimmy VeseyKevin HayesJT Miller
Vinny Lettieri-David DesharnaisJesper Fast
Cody McLeod-Peter HollandPaul Carey

Brady SkjeiNeal Pionk
Marc Staal-Tony DeAngelo
Rob O’Gara-John Gilmour

PP1: Nash-Zuccarello-Zibanejad-Miller-Skjei
PP2: Hayes-Desharnais-Lettieri-Gilmour-DeAngelo

Henrik Lundqvist gets the start.

Scratches/Injuries: Chris Kreider (blood clot), Kevin Shattenkirk (knee), Ryan McDonagh (lingering something or other), Ondrej Pavelec (knee), Steven Kampfer (hand), Rick Nash (to be traded)

Crazy Prediction: AV is fired mid-game.

Game time is 7pm. Be sure to follow on our Snapchat for in-game shenanigans.

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