The Rangers, off a solid effort top-to-bottom, look to sweep the first two games of the series tonight against the Devils. New Jersey, in their first playoff series since 2018, will be aiming to avoid a 2-0 deficit with Game 3 slated for Saturday night at MSG. Look for a much tighter checking and physical contest between the tunnel rivals tonight.
Game 1 recap:
A tough opponent. Take it game by game. Go from there.#NoQuitInNY pic.twitter.com/5388eZkKaJ
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) April 20, 2023
Rangers lineup:
Kreider-Zibanejad-Kane Panarin-Trocheck-Tarasenko Lafrenière-Chytil-Kakko Vesey-Goodrow-Motte
Lindgren-Fox Miller-Trouba Mikkola-Schneider
Shesterkin Halà¡k
Scratches: Harpur, Brodzinski, Hajek, Leschyshyn, Domingue
Don't expect any changes from Game 1. Mika Zibanejad and Tyler Motte each sat out yesterday's optional practice but both took part in the morning skate today. The only partially concerning one was Motte, who blocked several shots in Game 1, but he looks good to go.
Rumored Devils lineup for Game 2 based on morning skate: Meier - Hischier - Mercer Palat - Hughes - Bratt Wood - Haula - Tatar Sharangovich - McLeod - Bastian
Siegenthaler - Hamilton Graves - Marino Bahl - Severson
Vanecek
Tatar-Hischier-Mercer Palat-Hughes-Bratt Meier-Haula-Boqvist Wood-McLeod-Bastian
Siegenthaler-Hamilton Graves-Marino Bahl-Severson
Vanecek Schmid
Scratches: L. Hughes, Smith, Boqvist, Lazar and Blackwood
Yegor Sharangovich, scratched in Game 1, dresses tonight in place of Jesper Boqvist. He slots onto the fourth line with Miles Wood moving up to the third line and Timo Meier bumped to the top line to skate with Nico Hischier and Dawson Mercer in an attempt to generate more offense. Wood plays a heavy game and chipped in 13 goals this year, but he would seem to be better suited to remaining on the bottom trio with Sharangovich skating on the third line.
Two other possible moves, neither confirmed or broadly discussed yet, are Luke Hughes dressing, maybe for Jonas Siegenthaler with Kevin Bahl sliding up to play with Dougie Hamilton, and Akira Schmid between the pipes in place of Vitek Vanecek. Based on the above, it looks like Sharangovich in for Boqvist will be the only change.
Keys to the Game:
Have to level up. #NoQuitInNY pic.twitter.com/jFmpAclCIT
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) April 19, 2023
1) Withstanding the increased Devils push: the initial jitters New Jersey admitted to feeling early in Game 1 dissipated by the second period. That resulted in improved play from the Devils, though not enough to change the end result. New Jersey should be much more poised and ready to play. I get the "withstand the early pressure" mantra, but unless the Rangers jump to a big lead early, do we really expect the pressure to only last the first five minutes? What will be key is to not lose the game early by getting out of position or sorts or allowing the New Jersey to dictate the style and pace of the contest.
2) Similar neutral zone play:the Devils went 2-1-1 against the Rangers during the regular season because they flowed through the neutral zone without any impediments. Wave upon wave of red and black skaters entered the offensive zone with little impunity, resulting in easy chances. New Jersey plays a speed game. Timo Meier and Ondrej Palat can play a heavy game, but the team uses its youth and foot speed to create chances, odd-man or other.
Tuesday, New York did a much better job of slowing down New Jersey and not allowing them to gain the neutral zone and create off the rush. I expect this to be a point of emphasis, along with an uptick in physical play, by New Jersey to get themselves as well as the crowd into the game. Limiting their chances overall and forcing the Devils to dump and chase or go station to station with passes and not get anything or little off the rush will be a key.
3) Production across the board: In Game 1, production came from nearly each forward line and D-pairing. Some units outperformed others with the Kid Line and Ryan-Lindgren Adam Fox duo garnering top honors. On the flip side, as noted by Greg Wyshynski in his column today, the Kreider-Zib-Kane were a minus-eight in shot attempts and only CK20 and Kane had 5x5 shot attempts.
Hischier and Mercer did a solid job defensively, but on the flip side, the Rangers line focused more on D than O, playing a conservative contest. The Zib line chipped pucks in rather than trying to carry the puck in to gain the zone. The game score also may have contributed to that strategy. Zib has not lit the lamp in six games while we know about Kane's struggles. If this trio plays the Devils line even or close to it, New York has an excellent chance at prevailing again.