Rangers - Capitals round 1 preview

          For the 2nd year in a row, the New York Rangers went down to game 82 before they new their fate for the Stanley Cup playoffs, this year however they've advanced to the 2nd season. And despite winning 3 out of 4 games this year, two of those games being 6-0 & 7-0 against their first round opponent the Washington Capitals, they will go into Wednesday's game 1 as underdogs.
          Rangers do have an edge in goaltending led by "King" Henrik Lundquist, the Caps will have to choose between Michael Neuvirth or Sergeri Varlamov. But, Lundquist will have to come up strong all night every night, and avoid the weak goal which has been subjected to giving up. Similiar to the Flyers, the Caps have to make a decison and stick with it in net. Look for Neuvirth to get the starting nod.
          During the regular season, the Rangers led the NHL with hits and blocked shots, the only problem being their #1 player in both those departments Ryan Callahan is injured for the next 6 weeks if not the season. They will lean on Brian Boyle, Brandon Prust and Brandon Dubinsky to lead the charge physically. The only problem is they have some softies in Wojtek Wolski, Mats Zuccarella, & Eric Christinsen that have been known to take the easy way out. Sean Avery will start the series likely as a healthy scratch, but if the Rangers need an energy boost he'll be back in by game 3. Another Ranger Marian Gaborik, has gone goalless 9 games, and was benched in last weeks loss to the Atlanta Thrashers, he must produce, the  Rangers do not have enough depth without him.
         Unquestionably the one key for the Rangers is the ability of Marc Staal & Daniel Girardi to stop Alexander Ovechekin. It won't be easy but the two defensive re-guards will be in his face as much as possible. The secondary scoring for the Caps will arrive and early in the series. The second line of Jason Arnott, Alex Semin & Brooks Laich have to be a factor 5 on 5. Look for Semin to be deadly as he himself doesn't have to worry about the matchup game.
         The Caps have sacrificed offense to become a much improved defensive stalward. Overall, Washigton has the 2nd best penalty kill, and 4th best goals against average this year. They also will not back down physically to the Rangers as they have in years past in the playoffs. Look for their 3rd and 4th lines to be aggressive on the Rangers smaller speedier forwards.
         Mike Green is set to comeback for game 1, he has missed over 1 month with a concussion after being elbowed by Rangers forward Derek Stephan. Green could be kept to 15-16 minutes a night, at least until the middle of the series. Dennis Wideman, whom was brought in incase Green was done for the year, is likely done until round 2.
          Overall, the Rangers problems scoring (16th best with 2.73 goals per game) mixed in with the Caps abilty to shut down, and 2 lines that can score when they need it most, this will be a 5-6 game series in favor of Washington.