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New York Rangers: Five takeaways from the Stanley Cup Playoffs (so far)

By Steve Paulus

COLUMBUS, OH - APRIL 16: Sergei Bobrovsky #72 of the Columbus Blue Jackets is congratulated by his teammates after Game Four of the Eastern Conference First Round during the 2019 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Tampa Bay Lightning on April 16, 2019 at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. Columbus defeated Tampa Bay 7-3 to win the series 4-0. (Photo by Kirk Irwin/Getty Images)
COLUMBUS, OH - APRIL 16: Sergei Bobrovsky #72 of the Columbus Blue Jackets is congratulated by his teammates after Game Four of the Eastern Conference First Round during the 2019 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Tampa Bay Lightning on April 16, 2019 at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. Columbus defeated Tampa Bay 7-3 to win the series 4-0. (Photo by Kirk Irwin/Getty Images) /
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COLUMBUS, OH – APRIL 16: Players from the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Tampa Bay Lightning shake hands after Game Four of the Eastern Conference First Round during the 2019 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs on April 16, 2019 at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. Columbus defeated Tampa Bay 7-3 to win the series 4-0. (Photo by Kirk Irwin/Getty Images)
COLUMBUS, OH – APRIL 16: Players from the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Tampa Bay Lightning shake hands after Game Four of the Eastern Conference First Round during the 2019 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs on April 16, 2019 at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. Columbus defeated Tampa Bay 7-3 to win the series 4-0. (Photo by Kirk Irwin/Getty Images) /

The first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs isn’t over yet, but the New York Rangers and their fans have learned some key lessons about what it takes to succeed in the post-season.

The New York Rangers are not in the post-season, but hope to be back in the playoff picture as soon as next season.  For a rebuilding team with a young coach, there are lessons to be learned every playoff year and 2019 is no exception.

It’s early to assess to the playoffs, but already there are some takeaways we can discuss and how they relate to the Blueshirts.

#1 – The regular season doesn’t matter

If any lesson has been hammered home this post-season, it is that the regular season really doesn’t matter so long as you qualify for the playoffs.  Much has been made of the disastrous first round performance of the Tampa Bay Lighting.  The bottom line is that the team had not played a meaningful game in months and were unable to turn it on at the flick of a switch.

Meanwhile, the Blue Jackets had been playing playoff intensity hockey games for weeks so they were primed for the playoffs. The same goes for the Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars and the St. Louis Blues.  All four teams engineered shocking or unexpected upsets in the first round and in the case of Columbus and Colorado, both teams were almost out of the playoff picture with days  to go in the season.  The Blues, on the other hand, were the worst team of the league when 2019 started so they have been playing for their lives for months. It was only four months ago that the owner of the Stars called out his best players for their bad play.

For a rebuilding team like the Rangers, this has to be encouraging. They can integrate new faces at the start of the season and their young players can get valuable experience without the pressure of being at the top of the standings. If they can gel at the right time and sneak into the playoffs, anything can happen.  Granted, they have to be good enough to make the playoffs, but a shaky start will not  rule them out and after some growing pains they could be good enough.

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