Wanna blog? Start your own hockey blog with My HockeyBuzz. Register for free today!
 

Game 8: NYR-MTL, Return of Public Enemy #1 and the Duke to Montreal

October 24, 2014, 5:24 PM ET [199 Comments]
Jan Levine
New York Rangers Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
The Rangers head to their former house of horrors, the Bell Centre, to face the Canadiens on Saturday. I use the term "former" because The Rangers won Games 1 and 2 while defeating Montreal in last years Stanley Cup Eastern Conference Finals. Both teams come into the game well rested as neither have played a game since Tuesday. Apologies for earliness of the blog, but due to Sabbath, I won't be able to get one up before game time, so wanted to get a preview up prior to the contest.

There are a few subplots to Saturday's game:

First, of course, is the return of Chris Kreider to where he became public enemy number one last season when he knocked over Carey Price in Game 1, forcing him from the rest of the round. Kreider took the wrath of the Montreal faithful in games two and five, but should expect similar treatment today and likely every game against the Canadiens moving forward. He has shown no signs of being worried by this, so unless someone looks to extract a measure of vengeance, beyond the Brandon Prust hit on Derek Stepan in Game 3, this should be just a sidebar in the papers.

The second subplot, and one that just became a factor today, is the return to the lineup for Anthony Duclair. Coach Alain Vigneault rewarded Duclair for his fine work in practice the past several days by reinserting him in the lineup and sitting Ryan Malone. Duclair should be pumped to show his wares in front of his family and friends in home town of Montreal.

Third subplot. It's the first matchup since last year's playoffs. For New York, there is little to prove, save for facing Price again, and it's an opportunity to extend their three-game winning streak. For Montreal, it's an opportunity to exact a slight measure of revenge after losing in the Eastern Conference finals last year. Of course it's only the possibility of a small measure, because winning today obviously does little to make up for the loss in the playoffs.

The last subplot will be the match-ups.

With Duclair in the lineup, the Rangers lines will be:
Kreider-Hayes-Nash;
Zuccarello-Brassard-St. Louis;
Duclair-D. Moore-Hagelin;
Glass-Mueller-Stempniak..the extra is Malone

On defense, McDonagh-Girardi, Staal-Klein and Moore-Hunwick

Evan Sporer made a great point on the possible match-ups:
My guess is, with Duclair with Hagelin and Moore, Mueller's line sees heavy DZS%. Mueller good on FO's, and AV trusts Glass....That being said, the Pacioretty line with eat up the Mueller line


To clarify, that line is Pacioretty-Desharnais-Gallagher. I would expect McDonagh and Girardi to be on the ice as much as possible against that line, though Montreal has the final change. To me though, just as scary, if not scarier lately is the Parenteau-Plekanec-Galchenyuk line, mainly because of the growth - both physically and in his play - by Galchenyuk. Do you play the Brassard line against the Pacioretty line due to the skill and speed on the line, and the Hayes line, due to their size, or Mueller line, due to Glass and Stempniak, against the Galchenyuk line? I would probably play the Mueller line against the Galchenyuk line and take your chances with Brassard backed up by McD-G against Pacioretty's line.
Join the Discussion: » 199 Comments » Post New Comment
More from Jan Levine
» Rangers finish gauntlet of schedule with 5-2 win over the Isles on Sunday
» Rangers hold on against Penguins, face Isles today, Panarin/ Miller/ Quick
» Rangers fall 6-3 to Lightning, takeaways and lessons learned in the loss
» Rangers in Tampa to take on the Lightning
» Rangers shutout Hurricanes 1-0 thanks to Igor and the defense