The result of Sunday's Rangers-Devils preseason matinee at the Prudential Center in New Jersey won't matter. That said, it's our first honest look at what kind of structure Mike Sullivan plans to bring to the New York Rangers.
For years, with the Pittsburgh Penguins, Sullivan's teams thrived on an aggressive 1-2-2 neutral-zone forecheck. F1 pressured the puck carrier hard, forcing a quick decision, while F2 and F3 were practically waiting at the opposing blue line to pounce on mistakes. The whole point was to suffocate time and space, turn defensemen into panicked turnover machines, and immediately flip those mistakes into transition chances.