The Washington Capitals' foe in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs is a familiar one; they will be facing the New York Rangers in a best-of-seven series.
When this column appears Thursday, the first game will already be in the books. There is no telling what could happen in this series, as the Caps are still a relatively young team when it comes to the postseason. The team will need to overcome their inexperience, though, as the Rangers have been to the playoffs for the last four years.
These two teams could not have had a more different season. As fans know, the Caps have had a strong season since the beginning, with the occasional hiccup here and there. The Rangers, however, are a completely different story.
The Rangers started the season with a 14-5-2 record, relatively similar to the Capitals 11-4-3 record at the time. It is after the Rangers stellar start that the problems begin to mount. The team would hover just over .500, winning 15 out of their next 27 games. The Rangers entered the all-star break with a record of 28-16-4, a record that was soon to be forgotten.
The team exited the break and dropped 13 of their next 20 games. As the once-promising team began to plummet to the bottom of the standings, so did the organization's confidence in head coach Tom Renney. As a result of the lost confidence, The Rangers fired Renney Feb. 24 and former Tampa Bay Lighting head coach John Torterella was given the whistle.
The rest is really history, as Torterella turned the team around with the help of the acquisition of Sean Avery, Nik Antropov and Derek Morris. With the new look, the Rangers went 12-7-2, good enough to earn themselves the seventh seed in the playoffs.
All bets are off now, what happened in the regular season cannot possibly predict what will happen in the next three months.
This season is not going to be an easy one for the boys in the red, white and blue. Washington took the season series from the Rangers three games to one, with the loss coming via a shoot-out. Those numbers look good on paper, but the Caps never faced the new and improved Rangers team, one founded almost solely on defense.
Much like their regular seasons, the teams playing styles could not be further apart. The Capitals own the second power play in league but only the 17th penalty kill. In contrast, the Rangers own the number one penalty kill but rank second to last in power play. Stats can only show so much but even by the naked eye its obvious the Rangers don't score much.
Called a "high-flying" offense by most, the Caps have never had a problem out scoring their opponents, while their defense is perhaps one of their biggest weaknesses. After the team's final home game of the season, Mike Green was asked what the team needed to improve before the playoffs started.
His response, "Well I'd like to stop our penalty kill from getting scored on."
Green's request, although not perfect, was some what fulfilled down the stretch. In their last five games the Capitals only surrendered two goals on 23 chances, much improved over the rest of the season. It is not a secret the Caps can score goals so it will be their penalty kill, defense and penalty kill that will determine the series.
Jose Theodore does not necessarily have to be stellar in net but he has to simply not lose the game for the team. Washington scored more than four goals in eight of their last 10 games, more than enough to secure a win. Theodore has shown complete lapses in judgment before and that has to be expected to happen in the playoffs.
Theodore is no Martin Brodeur, which may be a good thing. No fan of the National Hockey League will forget Sean Avery's antics last year of waving his stick in front of the multi-Vezina winning goalie. Those same antics have to be expected in this series, too. Avery is clearly the X-factor of this series, which could be good or bad for the Caps. Alex Ovechkin has one of the hardest checks in the league though, and he doesn't put up with any nonsense from pests.
This series has to favor the Caps because of their overall record and their sheer ability to score goals. It is not to say the series is going to be a cakewalk, but it should be easier than last year's seven-game marathon against Philadelphia. It is certainly Washington's series to win or lose and judging by the way they have played all season, one has to believe they will win.
You can reach this staff writer at atomlinson@theeagleonline.com.
