In light of the ever-present mantra of the playoffs being a new season, the question for the Rangers is if that’s a good thing.
Because it would be hard to do any better than they did in the regular season. Following Saturday afternoon’s regular-season finale, a 4-2 win over the playoff-bound Capitals in Washington, the Blueshirts set franchise records for wins in a season (53) and points (113). What unfolded later in the evening was the Penguins going to Buffalo and hardly impressing with a 2-0 win over the absolutely woeful Sabres, setting up a first-round matchup that begins Thursday night in the Garden between a slumping Pittsburgh squad and the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Rangers.
“We’re very happy with what we did this year,” defenseman Dan Girardi told the team’s website after the game. “But that comes to an end next week. It’s the start of a new season.”
So that reset is certainly more in need for the Penguins, who desperately want to come out of their late-season malaise if they want any chance to hang with the high-flying Rangers. Captain Sidney Crosby has had a down year by his elite-level standards, putting up 28 goals and 84 points — albeit in 77 games — to finish third in the race for the Art Ross Trophy. His wingman, Evgeni Malkin, has struggled with an undisclosed injury down the stretch and didn’t score a goal in his final 10 games of the regular season.
The Pens are also without their Norris Trophy-level defenseman Kris Letang, out with another concussion and likely to be sidelined for the whole of the playoffs. They also finished the season shorthanded without terrific young defenseman Olli Maatta, solid blue-liner Christian Ehrhoff — along with the season-long absence of Crosby’s regular winger, Pascal Dupuis.
All of that contributed to a record of 4-9-2 for the Penguins since March 14, watching as they fell from near the top of the Metropolitan Division to the last wild-card spot, needing that victory in Buffalo just to qualify.
But the Rangers certainly aren’t going to take them lightly. The second-round series from their most recent postseason can’t be too far from their minds, the one in which they were down in the best-of-seven, 3-1, only to rally around the sudden death of Martin St. Louis’ mother and win a Game 7 on the back of a legendary performance from goalie Henrik Lundqvist.
The Rangers were 3-0-1 against the Penguins this season, once losing in a shootout and once winning in overtime.
“We understand now that we have to raise our level and that it’s a different animal,” captain Ryan McDonagh said. “It’s about just getting out there and executing now.”
Executing hasn’t been too much of a problem for the Blueshirts this season, but again, they’re not planning on relying on what’s already happened to help them beat the Penguins.
“Obviously we had a good year, and I’m very proud of the way we played,” coach Alain Vigneault said. “But now our focus shifts to the playoffs and we should know [soon] who our first opponent is going to be.”
The qualifier of the opponent being the “first” is the smallest admission that Vigneault and the Rangers have expectations that go past the Penguins. But they wouldn’t be where they are if they got caught up in looking ahead, and there’s little question they’re going to get everything the Penguins have come Thursday.
The Rangers sent 24-year-old rookie forward Ryan Bourque back to AHL Hartford on Sunday after he played in one game, his NHL debut on Thursday against the Senators. The AHL regular season ends on Sunday, April 19, and the Wolf Pack already have qualified for the playoffs.
Defenseman Chris Summers remained with the team at least temporarily, with the status of Marc Staal (missed the final two games with an undisclosed injury) and Kevin Klein (missed the final 16 games with a broken left arm) likely to be clearer starting with Tuesday’s practice, the first since Saturday’s game.