The Rangers took Game 1 with style, lighting up an obviously rusty Tampa team that had 9 days off between games. They were uncharacteristically sloppy, allowing 7 slot line passes for quality chances. Don’t expect that to happen again, and expect Tampa to adjust to keep sticks in lanes and have more situational awareness.
Also expect Tampa to adjust their breakouts, as The Shift and the number of chances of forechecking are at the forefront in their minds. Quicker, shorter passes are what worked for Carolina, so expect the same. The question is whether Gerard Gallant and the Rangers adjust to Tampa’s adjustments.
Lightning Lines
Steven Stamkos-Anthony Cirelli-Nikita Kucherov
Ondrej Palat-Nicholas Paul-Alex Killorn
Cole Koepke-Ross Colton-Corey Perry
Pat Maroon-Pierre-Edouard Bellemare-Riley Nash
Victor Hedman-Erik Cernak
Ryan McDonagh-Zach Bogosian
Mikhail Sergachev-Cal Foote
Andrei Vasilevskiy gets the start.
Rangers Lines
Chris Kreider-Mika Zibanejad-Frank Vatrano
Artemiy Panarin-Ryan Strome–Andrew Copp
Alexis Lafreniere-Filip Chytil–Tyler Motte
Kaapo Kakko-Barclay Goodrow-Ryan Reaves
K’Andre Miller–Jacob Trouba
Ryan Lindgren–Adam Fox
Justin Braun-Braden Schneider
PP1: Strome-Zibanejad-Panarin-Kreider-Fox
PP2: Lafreniere-Chytil-Vatrano-Copp-Trouba
Igor Shesterkin gets the start.
Injuries: Sammy Blais (knee – done for season), Kevin Rooney (healthy)
Crazy Prediction: A six spot on Vasi.
Game time is 8pm.
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