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Who Is Best 1st Round Matchup For New York Rangers?

By Steven Carollo

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The answer to “Who is the best 1st round playoff matchup for the New York Rangers?” is quite simple, in my opinion.  The answer is “NOT THE BRUINS!” and “NOT THE RED WINGS!”

New York Rangers
New York Rangers /

New York Rangers

I am a fan who does not like to root for specific playoff matchups because it always comes back to bite you in the rear end.  But with that being said, I can still root for whichever team I do not want the Rangers to play in the 1st round of the playoffs and that is the Boston Bruins, with the Detroit Red Wings a close 2nd.

The Rangers have met the Bruins in 10 postseason series in their histories, twice in the Stanley Cup Final, and the Rangers have only won 3 of those 10 postseason series against the Bruins, losing both Stanley Cup Final matchups to them as well.  Now, of course, this season has nothing to do with the past but even this season the Rangers have struggled to beat the Bruins.  Out of their 3 regular season matchups this season, the Rangers, who mind you have just clinched the Presidents’ Trophy, only won 1 out of the 3 games vs. the Bruins this season, dropping both games in Boston by a wide margin and only winning their lone matchup at Madison Square Garden by one goal.  So if I had to choose who I want the Rangers to play in the 1st round of the playoffs, it would NOT be the Bruins.

As for the Red Wings, the Rangers have not faced them in the postseason since the 1950 Stanley Cup Final, which the Red Wings won in 7 games.  The two have met in the playoffs a total of 5 times and guess how many the Rangers have won out of the 5?  A big 1 series out of 5.  So compared to the Bruins, the Rangers have had just as much success against the Red Wings in the postseason, that being not much at all.  But, of course, what happened in 1950 and before that has nothing to do with today, but this season, the Rangers went 1-1-1 against the Red Wings, basically the same record they had against the Bruins this season only with one more point earned against the Red Wings.  So if I had to choose who I want the Rangers to play in the 1st round of the playoffs, it would NOT be the Red Wings as well.

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So with not choosing the Bruins or the Red Wings, that only leaves a couple of possibilities for the Rangers in the 1st round of the playoffs.  If not the Bruins or the Red Wings, then most likely the Rangers will be playing either the Pittsburgh Penguins or
Ottawa Senators, depending on which one makes the playoffs.  Now I am not rooting for the Rangers to face the Penguins or the Senators, since I said that always seems to come back to bite you in the rear end, but with that being said, I would like the Rangers to avoid the Bruins and Red Wings at all costs.

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