Washington Capitals vs. New York Rangers Matchup Round 1

After a long season, 16 teams remain in the hunt for the Stanley Cup. Here is an in depth preview for each series along with a prediction made by myself.

#1 Washington Capitals (48-23-11) vs. #8 New York Rangers (44-33-5)
Season Series Won by New York 3-1

Washington will enjoy home ice advantage for this one as they are well known for performing well on home ice. The Rangers, however, are very good on the road. The Rangers, who struggled at home at times this season, picked up their play on the road so games in Washington should be very exciting and fun to watch. The Capitals were also very solid on the road and the Rangers were a bit shaky at times. Going into the playoffs, both teams were doing quite well. The Rangers had to battle it out to ensure a playoff spot while Washington was able to knock off Philadelphia at the number one spot in the East.

Keys on Offense: Washington:
Ovechkin slumped a bit and missed a couple of games due to injury but still led the team with 85 points. This was a big drop off from last season when he had 109. Other star Nicklas Backstrom also had an off year with 65 points after having 101 last year. Alexander Semin also underachieved with 54 points after having 84 last year. The Capitals were able to overcome these drop offs with solid seasons from secondary scorers like Brooks Laich and Mike Knuble. To sum up their season offensively it seems that noone was overwhelmingly productive but everyone chipped in and were able to get Washington back to the top. If they want to succeed in the Playoffs, they are going to need their star players to step up a bit more. In last years series loss to Montreal, the games that they won they scored 6, 5, and then 6 goals. Washington likes to play in high scoring games so they need more productive play from their top lines while still receiving the stable work of the secondary scorers.

New York:
The Rangers waited for last minute again this year to decide their fate but this time they wind up inside of the playoff bracket. On paper they don't look so powerful, their leading point scorer (Brandon Dubinsky) had only 54 points. However, they control the game well in their offensive zone. They like to hold the puck down low from behind their opponents net and like to create chances in the slot and in the faceoff circles. They get a lot of dirty goals down low and in front. The key for the Rangers would be to continue this game plan. Get the puck to the front and try to poke one in. Injuries have plagued New York most of the year and now they are hoping they can put it past them even though they will most likely be without goal-scoring threat Ryan Callahan for the rest of the season.

Defense: Washington:
Mike Green has been out most of the season with an injury and may not  be ready for the beginning of this season but Washington is hoping everyone else will step up if he misses more playing time during the playoffs. John Carlson had a fantastic season for Washington offensively and has been very reliable defensively. Along with Karl Alzner they've put together a very stable defensive line. Other players like John Erskine and Tom Poti also contribute defensively as Washington is 4th best in the league in goals against per game (2.33)

New York:
Dan Girardi and Marc Staal have been freaks of nature for the Blue Shirts this year. Both playing about 25 minutes a game and are the main reason New York is considered to be defensively great. The Rangers this year are 5th best in the league in goals per game (2.38) and are one spot behind Washington. Michael Sauer is also having a lovely year and acquisition of veteran Bryan McCabe will only help them through the playoffs. They appear to be a bit better than Washington offensively here but don't expect so much offense from defensemen this series.

Goaltending: Washington:
While no official announcement has been made regarding who will start, Washington claimed it will be a conjoined effort from all three goalies to carry them to the Stanley Cup. Goalie Semyon Varlomov has played very well for them the past couple of post-seasons but failed to carry them to the finals. Michal Neuvirth has won back-to-back championships for the Hershey Bears in the AHL. Braden Holtby played a few games this year as well on emergency notice and performed up to par as well. Neuvirth played the most games (48 with 27 wins) had a 2.45 GAA and a .914 SV%. Next came Varlomov who played 27 games (11 wins) had a 2.23 GAA and a .924 SV%. Holtby won 10 out of 14 games with a 1.79 GAA and a 9.34 SV%. All played great and they all might see playing time in the playoffs. Personally, however, I don't quite see Holtby playing too much as both other goalies will try to gain momentum for themselves and their team.

New York:
One thing for the Rangers that has been present with them ever since the lockout was the tremendous play of Henrik Lundqvist. King Henrik had another Vezina-caliber season and always has a chance at getting a shutout. He had a career high 11 this season with a great 2.28 GAA and a .923 SV%. He makes the tough saves and makes them look easy and will definately play a major role in this series. If the Rangers win this one, it will be largely in part to the way The King plays for them.

Special Teams: Washington:
PP-17.5% (ranked 16th)
PK-85.6% (ranked 2nd)

New York:
PP-16.9% (ranked 18th)
PK-83.7% (ranked 10th)

Wouldn't be surprised if Special Teams didn't factor too much in this series. Both teams are relatively clean teams. The Rangers powerplay is streaky not always up to par. Both teams have a good penalty kill though so don't expect too many powerplay goals.

Bottom Line: Washington:
Washington defeated the Rangers in the 2009 playoffs in 7 games in the first round. Washington came back from a 3 games to 1 deficit and scored the game winning goal in game 7 with just minutes remaining. There are quite a few players that were on that team in 2009 who remembers and would like to put this series away earlier. Semyon Varlomov played well in relief of Jose Theodore who struggled. Also, the Capitals have a chip on their shoulder due to not being able to finish the deal. After beating the Rangers, they battled against Crosby and the Penguins and played awfully in game 7 to lose the series. This year the Capitals are hungry to win and will probably not stop playing and pushing until they win the Cup officially.

New York:
The collapse against Washington was disastrous for the city of New York. Defensive breakdowns were too often and they gave up too many goals. The Rangers also have quite a few players who played in that series and they will be look for revenge this year. One incident happened in that series when Ranger coach John Tortorella lost his tempor on the bench in the midst of a 4-0 victory by the Caps. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GKbXMYBrDM This year I'm sure the Capital fans won't let him forget it. The Rangers last year disappointed their fans again when they missed the playoffs on the last day of the season. The high expectations from their fans will hopefully push the Rangers to a series win as they hope to upset the 1 seed in the East.

Prediction:
The Capitals have been waiting for something for too long and this year they will start to do something about it. They will play more defensively against the Rangers because they know that their own offense will erupt for at any moment. Lundqvist will play great but the Rangers will be overwhelmed after their desperate run to stay in the playoffs. Varlomov and Neuvirth will split the playing time and will play well as they did all year.
Capitals win this one in 6 games.