The sliding Rangers take on the streaking Penguins at MSG on Tuesday. Tonight's meeting is the first since the two teams met in the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals; a series marked by New York rebounding from a 3-1 deficit to win the series while riding the emotions following the passing of Martin St. Louis mother, France. This will be a match-up of two teams heading in different directions, both in the record and on special teams.

A few quick thoughts:

Revenge factor. As noted above, Pittsburgh will be looking to repay New York handily for knocking them out of the playoffs. Of course, that payback will do little to really make up for the playoff defeat. More likely is the Penguins targeting Marc Staal for the several shots he delivered to the back of Sidney Crosby's head in the playoff series. Much was made of Steve Downie getting signed partially to make sure events like what happened last year aren't repeated and it wouldn't shock me if Staal has a bull's-eye on his back, especially if the game gets out of hand.

Opposite directions. New York comes in 6-6-2 with one win in their last five and that one came in overtime against Detroit after losing a lead with 7.7 seconds to go against the Red Wings. Included within that streak are a pair of shootout losses, a disappointing defensive effort Saturday in the 5-4 loss to Toronto and a complete failure to show up against Edmonton on Sunday. The power play is 24th at 13.2% (5-for-38) while the penalty kill is 39-for-49, 17th in the league at 79.6%

To contrast the above numbers, Pittsburgh comes in on a seven-game win streak, leading the Metro Division at 10-2-1 Penguins. Fueling that streak and overall record have been stellar special teams. have been a major advantage. The No. 1 ranked power play has scored 21 times in 56 chances, a remarkable 37.5%, while and the penalty-kill sits third in the league at 88.5% (6-for-52) but has not allowed a goal in their last 37 shorthanded opportunities.

It's getting late early. Pat Leonard wrote this today: "From Tuesday through Dec. 1, the Rangers play 11 games in 21 days, including six against the top three teams in the East – two against the Pens, three versus the Eastern Conference-leading Tampa Bay Lightning, and one against Montreal. They’ll also face the rival Philadelphia Flyers three times." Dan Boyle may be back Thursday, but his hand is not yet close to 100%. Ryan McDonagh likely won't be back until December 1, by when the Rangers will have played 25 of their 82 games. The Blueshirts sit fifth in the Metro and fifth in the Wild Card. Avoiding a last minute scramble to make the playoffs would be optimal to avoid exhausting Henrik Lundqvist and the rest of the squad.

Choose an Identity/Consistent Combinations. While the two are not explicitly linked they are related. New York seems caught in between as to which style they want to play. If they want to be a puck possession team, which is an AV hallmark, then to do you actually need to control and hold the puck. The Rangers admit they been shaky with the puck, which has prevented the team from making plays because they are unable to operate instinctively coupled with horrific spacing. So if that isn't working, then the team needs to be better in their own zone and go from there, but that too has been lacking, since the handoffs and front of the net coverage have been embarrassingly bad. If those issues are repeated tonight, the San Jose game from last year could get repeated.

To help facilitate the above, consistent combinations would help. Even tonight, that isn’t the case. Injuries have impacted this but AV is trying to find groupings that work. Anthony Duclair, who has struggled a bit lately despite his talent, watches from the press box while the "more dependable" Jesper Fast and Lee Stempniak are in. The top-six should hopefully remain intact for a bit, same with the third line for a few games and possibly the fourth, though eventually I expect Duclair in on the third and Stempniak possibly on the fourth. On defense, with Boyle and McDonagh out and Moore suspended, the blue line has been in a major state of flux. Until all are back, that will continue but the top-four should at least be solid, while the Moore-Kostka combination will hopefully be sheltered tonight, avoiding Crosby and Malkin.

Projected Lineups

RANGERS

Forwards:
Rick Nash-Derick Brassard-Martin St. Louis
Chris Kreider-Derek Stepan-Mats Zuccarello
Carl Hagelin-Kevin Hayes-Lee Stempniak
Tanner Glass-Dominic Moore-Jesper Fast

Defense:
Matt Hunwick-Dan Girardi
Kevin Klein-Marc Staal
John Moore-Michael Kostka

Goalie:
Henrik Lundqvist

PENGUINS

Forwards:
Chris Kunitz-Sidney Crosby-Patric Hornqvist
Pascal Dupuis-Evgeni Malkin-Blake Comeau
Nick Spaling-Brandon Sutter-Steve Downie
Marcel Goc-Zach Sill-Craig Adams

Defense:
Paul Martin-Kris Letang
Christian Ehrhoff-Robert Bortuzzo
Rob Scuderi-Simon Despres

Goalie:
Marc-Andre Fleury

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