The Pittsburgh Penguins and NY Rangers are playing live from Madison Square Garden on the NHL Playoffs schedule and the matchup starts at 7 pm ET from the NBC Sports Network and streaming online from the NBCSN Live Extra website as the top team in the league tries to win Game 1 and this has Sidney Crosby, Rick Nash, Evgeni Malkin and Henrik Lundqvist hitting the ice.
The Rangers were the best team in the NHL this season and they finished with the most point in the east and the league. The Penguins were the better team last season and had home ice in the playoff series, but now the two sides will meet with the Rangers taking things. The Rangers had to travel quite a bit last time around and now the team will start off at home and that could be a major advantage.
The Rangers come in after winning their last game of the season against the Capitals and they will next play against the Penguins on Saturday night at MSG. The team was one of the most consistent in the league this year, ranking in the top three in scoring and in goals against. Lundqvist is back from injury and is playing in top form, but the Rangers now know they have a strong backup in Cam Talbot.
This season Lundqvist missed over a month with an injury and during that time, the team was nearly unbeatable and so was Talbot. Lundqvist had a shaky start when he came back, but he has been back in his great form and the team is scoring more than they did last season when Lundqvist basically put them on his back and took them deep. This year the team is getting production from all four lines and Rick Nash is coming in after having a career year scoring goals.
Last season these two teams played in the second round of the playoffs and the Rangers ended up winning the series despite going down by two games. The team was down 3-1 into Game 5, but Martin St. Louis suffered a tragedy and the team was able to rally behind him. The team was able to push back and win against the Penguins in seven games and that helped propel them to the Stanley Cup finals.
The Rangers power play has not been great, but the penalty kill ranks in the top 10 and that could be key for Lundqvist if the team wants to get past the Penguins in five or six games. Last year the Rangers upset the Penguins before taking down the Canadiens and that put them in the finals. The team has not won the Cup in 21 years and they come in as the favorites in what is a wide open playoffs bracket. The Rangers have the firepower and the depth to make another deep run this season.
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