Gallant: “We gotta play our game”

In just a few hours the New York Rangers will be playing their first playoff game in five years.  Despite their outstanding regular season success, this is a whole new season and the Rangers are still the youngest team in the playoffs with an average age of 26.7 years.

They are playing a veteran Penguins team that averages 29.7 years,  making them the oldest team in the playoffs.  Coach Gerard Gallant is doing his best to keep the team on an even keel, even going so far as to say he isn’t overly excited. “Playoffs.  It’s nothing.  Seriously,  It’s another game, a seven game series against the same team. I’m excited, but we’ve got a job to do and we do the best we can…nothing changes from a regular season game to a playoff game for me. Do your job, get prepared and that’s what you do.”

There’s no denying that the players are excited and Andrew Copp made a point of saying that it was important to keep “an even keel.”

Gallant did say he is looking forward to the home crowd at Madison Square Garden. “It should be great. I haven’t experienced it obviously, but I’m looking forward to it.  I know our players are. They’ll be jacked up no doubt.”

Alexis Lafrenière said that the team has been waiting for this and are ready to play.  He had been working on the second power play unit in the Kreider position in front of the net, a new look for him.

The key to winning for the Rangers?  The answer is simple for Gallant.  “I want us to keep playing the way the New York Rangers play. We’ve got to worry more about our team than the other team. We’ve got to think more about what we’re going to do than the other team.  When we start worrying about the other team and what they’re gonna do to us, the you’re standing behind the eight ball and you’re hesitating on the ice.  We gotta play our game.”

The lineup

The only lineup decision that remains to be made is who will play on the fourth line.  Gallant indicated that it will be a choice between Ryan Reaves and Dryden Hunt playing alongside Kevin Rooney and Barclay Goodrow.  We won’t know the answer until gametime.

As for the rest of the lineup, there are no injuries with Artemi Panarin and Andrew Copp back in action.  Copp said he is fine and probably could have played the last two games if they had needed him.

About the Penguins

The key injury for the Penguins is to first string goalie Tristan Jarry.  He will miss at least the first two games of the series, replaced by Casey DeSmith.

DeSmith was an undrafted college player, signed by the Penguins at age 26 in 2017 after he got his pro start in the ECHL.  He has played 96 games over four years for Pittsburgh and was 11-6-5 this season in 26 games with a .914 save percentage (Sv%) and a 2.79 goals against average (GAA). He’s played seven times against the Rangers with a 3-2-1 record and a 3.45 GAA and a .886 Sv%.

Forward Jason Zucker had an undisclosed injury that kept him out of the lineup in the last game of the season, but was back on the ice at practice and should see action soon in this series.

In post practice remarks, Coach Mike Sullivan spoke about the Rangers’ speed and the transition game as the biggest threat, singling out Adam Fox as a key player.

He also spoke about Igor Shesterkin, saying “He’s  a big part of their team, no question. We’ve got to try to make it a hard game for him…the goalies in this game are too good. If they’re going to see it, they’re going to stop it…we’ve got to try to create net traffic, give ourselves an opportunity for deflections or a rebound.”

The Penguins starting lineup has players who have played a total of 1,099 Stanley Cup Playoff games compared to the Rangers with 391 with Ryan Reaves in the lineup, 310 if he isn’t.

What kind of history do the two teams share?