February 8, 2018. The infamous letter went out. “As a member of the Blueshirt Faithful, we consider you part of the New York Rangers family, and always want to ensure you we share important news about the organization directly with you. Today we want to talk to you about the future.” Ladies and gentlemen, the future is here. For the first time since that letter went out, the New York Rangers will follow up a full 82 game season with postseason play. Game one of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, between the New York Rangers and the Pittsburgh Penguins, at the World’s Most Famous Arena. Tonight.
The Rangers took care of business and had a great regular season, finishing second in the Metropolitan Division, clinching home ice advantage, beating the Penguins in three of their four regular season meetings. However tonight, it’s a brand new season and this team has to come out ready for it. The Penguins are a seasoned team, one that has been here many times before and they're going to look to come out and change the narrative the Rangers build during the regular season. It’s never easy to go up against the Penguins with Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang who will likely be hungry for what could possibly be their final crack at it all together.
For the Penguins, the biggest story line going into the postseason is how they will be without their starting goalie for at least the start of playoffs in Tristan Jarry. Jarry, who sustained a lower-body-injury against the Boston Bruins late in the season is not expected to be ready for games one or two, leaving backup Casey DeSmith the duties of shutting down the Rangers offense. DeSmith played 26 games this season, putting up a .914 save percentage, going 11-6-5 in the process. A small sample size, but solid numbers nonetheless. DeSmith didn’t start in any of the games against the Rangers this season but did make an appearance to briefly relieve Tristan Jarry in their outing on the 25th of March. DeSmith will need to step up in Jarry’s absence to keep the Penguins in the series. In addition to Jarry, the Penguins will also be without veteran winger Jason Zucker who is a key middle-six forward.
On the Rangers end, they will be near full strength aside from Tyler Motte and of course Sammy Blais. A huge bright side in that department however, Gerard Gallant said there is potential for Motte to return to action at some point during . While he hasn’t skated quite yet, it is certainly promising to know that he could be on the brink of a return as he looked really good in the few games we saw from him. As for the rest of the lineup, there shouldn’t be any surprises. According to what we heard from Rangers practice the last couple days, it appears Dryden Hunt will be the odd man out on the Rangers fourth line. Expect the following to start the series:
Kreider - Zibanejad - Vatrano
Panarin - Strome - Copp
Lafreniere - Chytil - Kakko
Goodrow - Rooney - Reaves
Lindgren - Fox
Miller - Trouba
Nemeth - Schneider
No question in net for the Rangers as Igor Shesterkin will lead them onto the Garden ice to start the series. It will be very interesting to see how Gallant handles his matchup as he will likely lean on his fourth line more than usual, relying on the experience of Barclay Goodrow and Ryan Reaves. It will be exciting to see how the “kid line” handles going into their first real playoff experience together now that they are all healthy with some games under their belt, getting them back up to speed. As long as the Rangers play the way they have against the Penguins all season long, they should feel pretty good about themselves as they step on that ice tonight. Tensions certainly picked up between the two teams in their final regular season meeting so expect this one to have all the tenacity and fire that makes playoff hockey so exciting.
“Our promise to you is that our plans will be guided by our singular commitment, ensuring we are building the foundation for our next Stanley Cup Contender.” The organization has fulfilled that promise and the time to once again begin competing for the Stanley Cup is now. Gear up Rangers fans, as it’s bound to be a wild round. This team has what it takes in them. From day one of camp, there has been a special feeling with this group and they’ve continued to build on that with each passing day. Look for them to carry that momentum into tonight and hope for a strong start to the 2021-22 postseason.
Chris Feldman
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