Washington wary of troubles vs. Rangers this year
So much of this NHL season was about just pushing through the endless 82 regular-season games. The Capitals have finally done that. Now comes the fun part.
Washington begins the Stanley Cup playoffs this week against a familiar foe — the New York Rangers. The two teams met in the first round two years ago, with the Caps falling behind 3-1 before rallying for a dramatic Game 7 victory. And despite being the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference for the second year in a row, they don’t expect any easier path this time around.
“There’s 16 teams that are really good. And people forget that,” Washington coach Bruce Boudreau told reporters after Saturday night’s 1-0 loss at Florida. “Fourteen teams don’t make it in a league that has got tremendous parity. We’ve had trouble against the Rangers. But it’s a different season for both of us.”
| FIRST ROUND |
| Caps vs. Rangers |
| Wed. – @ WAS – 7:30 p.m. |
| Fri. – @ WAS – 7:30 p.m. |
| Sun. – @ NYR – 3 p.m. |
| 4/20 – @ NYR – 7 p.m. |
| 4/23 – @ WAS – 3 p.m.* |
| 4/25 – @ NYR – TBD* |
| 4/27 – @ WAS – TBD* |
| * If necessary |
New York is happy to be playing anybody at all. It began Saturday needing help to grab the No. 8 seed. But the Rangers beat the New Jersey Devils at home in the afternoon and then watched the Carolina Hurricanes lose their finale against Tampa Bay. The Hurricanes would have tied New York in points and made the postseason via a tiebreaker. Instead, the Rangers get another shot at the Caps.
The two teams played four times this season, and Washington didn’t show particularly well. It lost 7-0 at New York on Dec. 12 — a defeat that figured prominently in HBO’s “24/7 Penguins-Capitals: Road to the NHL Winter Classic” program — and 6-0 at home to the Rangers on Feb. 25. In between was a 2-1 shootout loss on Jan. 24. The Caps’ lone victory was 5-3 at Madison Square Garden on Nov. 9.
New York (44-33-5, 93 points) ranks fourth in the NHL in blocked shots (1,301) and first in hits (2,333). But the Rangers will be without second-leading scorer Ryan Callahan (23 goals, 25 assists) after he suffered a broken right leg on a slap shot by Boston’s Zdeno Chara on April 4. The Caps (48-23-11, 107 points) hope to have defenseman Mike Green (concussion) back for the playoffs. He hasn’t played since that Feb. 25 loss to New York when forward Derek Stepan delivered a crunching shot to Green’s jaw.
“I think we’re all excited. Everything that we wanted to fast forward to get to at the end of last season is here,” veteran forward Mike Knuble said. “As a group we’re looking forward to this week of preparation and finally knowing who we’re going to play.”
The Rangers and Caps have met five times in the postseason — twice in the first round and three times in the second round. Washington has won three of those series.
