New York Rangers Rely on History and Look for Support

Veterans with a Proven Track Record

The New York Rangers have grown to become one of the most experienced postseason teams over the last 4 years and that may help counter-balance their loss of speed and stand out players. Along with experience in the playoffs, the Rangers also have extreme depth.

They have several 40 point scorers this year, which seems to fly under the radar. Also, even though their first and second lines may struggle from time to time while playing elite teams, due to this depth, their third and fourth lines usually can outplay their opponents. This will be put to the test during the New York Rangers first series of the Stanley Cup Playoffs as the Blueshirts prepare to take on the piping hot Pittsburgh Penguins.

The Starters Are…

The play of McDonagh will be missed, for at least the first game of the series, but the good news is, he is no longer believed to miss the entire series. It is also likely that the New York Rangers will gain back both Eric Staal and Dan Girardi. This is good news for the Blueshirts. Even though people are upset with the lack of consistency in Girardi’s play this season, the team can ill afford to be down two veteran defenseman against a team full of offensive power.

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The Rangers are bruised and battered, but they have to be used to that by now. This season the Blueshirts were plagued with injuries to big name players, most notably Rick Nash and Ryan McDonagh. While players were out with injuries the New York Rangers kept winning. Sometimes it was difficult to watch, but they got the job done.

Now they are playing the Penguins in Pittsburgh and history is on the side of the New York Rangers. They are also playing a team that has acquired a similar amount of injuries over the last half of the regular season. The Rangers need to take advantage of this. They need to realize that the Penguins may not have their first, or even second string goalie start tonight and come off of the opening puck drop like a shot from a cannon.

The Blueshirts offensive production took a positive turn during the last few weeks of the season. Stepan, Kreider and Zucc led the team in this area and even though those three players have the ability to carry a team, the Rangers cannot bank on them to record a point every game. The New York Rangers need to see a pick-up in production from Nash, a supposed offensive super-star that seems to hit a rut every time his team enters the postseason, which is a great way to lose your job.

Who Should be on the New York Rangers Radar

Defensively the Rangers need to make sure they are not leaving Henrik Lundqvist hang out to dry. The Penguins have one of the fastest players in the league on their roster, one-time Ranger, Carl Hagelin. The Blueshirts need to make sure they Hags in check. Hagelin has the ability to create shorthanded opportunities and breakdown a defense with speed. Their is also some player called Crosby on the Penguins that is rumored to be okay and is surely apart of the Rangers scouting report.

Next: New York Rangers Keys to Defeating Pens

Tonight at 8:00 pm, the best time of the year begins. The New York Rangers postseason aspirations and dreams will be tested and the Penguins will be doing everything in their power to make sure the Blueshirts do not leave Pittsburgh with a win. The Rangers will have their work cut out for them this series, but they need to take each game one at a time and focus on the players that are on their roster today and not who may be on the roster tomorrow.