BY SAM HITCHCOCK
NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM
COMMENTARY
It was not too long ago that Pittsburgh overtaking New York in the Atlantic and grabbing the No. 1 seed was considered a lock, with the Penguins the Eastern Conferences favorite and possibly the team to beat in the entire NHL. It’s amazing how much can change in a week and a half.
Now the Penguins are fighting to keep home ice advantage for their seemingly pre-destined, in-state showdown with the rival Philadelphia Flyers while New York competes for the Presidents’ Trophy.
Having won six of their last eight -- and three of their last four -- games, the boys from Broadway are heading into the playoffs with momentum and their roster astoundingly healthy and intact. The Rangers dispatched four consecutive teams outside the playoff bubble with varying degrees of ease before losing a hard-fought battle against Boston Sunday (they would have swept the season series if they had beaten the Bruins over the weekend, so it was hardly a discouraging defeat). Here is "the good" and the "not-so-good."
THE GOOD:
The Rangers know and play within their identity. This means that offensively they are relentless pursuers of the puck. They play two ways, and are crafty around the net and in their offensive zone. Something they seem to do better than everybody else is when they get puck possession and are on transition; a forward will buy some time by curling towards the outside boards or slowing down, and then hit the trailing, unmarked forward with a pass that sets up a great scoring opportunity. Gaborik’s line executes this to perfection, and rarely can teams ever stop it.
