The Rangers would like to have 81 more of their season-opening performance at Buffalo on Thursday.
Even so, head coach Peter Laviolette and the team are just getting started on the details of their game., Laviolette said he wanted to go back and focus on one of the more drastic changes he implemented in the Rangers’ system: The 1-3-1 neutral zone trap.
The formation is designed to create turnovers, force puck dump-ins and prevent odd-man rushes while also creating opportunities for a quick transition the other way — and that’s essentially what the Rangers accomplished in Buffalo. Vincent Trocheck #16 of the New York Rangers skates against the Sabres during their season-opening win.The 1-3-1 may be considered a defensive neutral zone strategy, but it can create a lot of offense.With F1 on the top of the center circle, F3 on the left, F2 in the middle on the bottom of the center circle, the right defenseman on the right and the left defenseman hanging back, F3 and RD are free to be aggressive in pursuit of the puck with the support of F2 and LD.
When executed properly, the 1-3-1 can take away an opponent’s forecheck, which usually ends with a dumped puck.The formation also bodes well for teams that have goaltenders who can play the puck when it ultimately gets dumped into their own zone.Corey Sipkin for the NY post
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