Hartnett: 5 Things To Watch As Rangers, Penguins Renew Playoff Rivalry
By Sean Hartnett
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The Pittsburgh Penguins will have payback on their mind when they renew hostilities with the rival New York Rangers in the playoffs at Madison Square Garden on Thursday night.
First-year head coach Mike Johnston wasn't behind the Pittsburgh's bench when the Rangers rallied from a 3-1 series deficit to eliminate the Pens in a winner-take-all Game 7 at Consol Energy Center last May. Even though Johnston has yet to sample the rivalry's full postseason intensity, he expects emotions from last year's series to carry over into Game 1.
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"You can see that when we played the Rangers this year, there is a rivalry," Johnston said. "It's there. Rivalries are based on the playoffs. What happened in other playoff series is important. It does carry forward, especially with the guys in the room that were there last year."
With the series opener upon us, here are five keys to what should be a highly charged, emotional series.
CAN THE RANGERS FRUSTRATE CROSBY AGAIN?
Throughout last season's Eastern Conference semifinals, Penguins captain Sidney Crosby found limited space to work with and was constantly harassed by the Rangers' shutdown trio of Marc Staal, Dan Girardi and Ryan McDonagh. Crosby was held scoreless by the Rangers in five of seven games. He finished the series with one goal and two assists and was a minus-two.
The Rangers successfully got under Crosby's skin throughout the series. A frustrated Crosby repeatedly complained to officials, demanding calls to be made. Eventually, the Penguins captain took matters into his own hands. It all boiled over when Crosby lashed out in Game 6.
Crosby got away with a clear, but unpenalized slew foot on Girardi. He later speared Rangers forward Dominic Moore between the legs after Moore wouldn't let go of his stick. A massive scrum ensued. Henrik Lundqvist attempted to "cool off" an enraged Crosby by squirting him in the face with his water bottle.
Even though Crosby dished out some pain, the Rangers had the last laugh by eliminating the Penguins in Game 7.
This time around, Crosby knows exactly how the Rangers plan to limit his space.
"I have a pretty good idea," Crosby said. "Playing seven games against a team, it's pretty fresh in your mind. They're probably going to play the same way. I'm sure they'll continue the same type of things. Just having a good understanding of that is important. I don't want to change too much. I believe in what I do out there. If there's little adjustments I have to make, I'll make them."
Crosby was asked specifically about Staal's ability to frustrate him. Last playoffs, Staal frequently targeted Crosby's head both with little taps from behind and more aggressive runs at Crosby's dome along the boards.
"You have to be ready to compete," Crosby said. "He's going to make things tough, just like a lot of defenseman try to do in the playoffs."
No. 87 is going to have his hands full trying to secure prime real estate in high-scoring areas with Staal, Girardi, McDonagh and co. attempting to cover him like a blanket.
"It's no secret this time of year that you're really going to have to fight to get to the front of the net," Crosby said. "Specially, just making sure you're ready to compete in front of the net."
The Rangers know all the little ways to throw Crosby off his game. That being said, it's incredibly difficult to keep one of the game's premier centers quiet for too long.
WILL THE NEW NASH SHOW UP?
Rick Nash looked like almost an entirely different person when he arrived at training camp clean-shaven and in what appeared to be the best shape of his life. Nash is hoping all his preparation throughout the summer and the regular season will pay off with a memorable playoff campaign.
"You hope so," Nash said. "You put all the work in the offseason to try to have a good season and try to continue that into the postseason. As the season goes on, you still put a lot of work in the gym and off the ice. You learn how to play your game a different way to make your body last a little longer. Then (when the playoffs come) you play a certain way, to get the best out of your body. We all push each other. Everyone's body reacts different during the season. It's not a cookie-cutter of a situation. Everyone has a different outlook and a different feeling on it."
The 6-foot-4, 213-pound winger proceed to have quite possibly the most dominant season of his career, setting a new career high with 42 goals and playing like a beast in all areas. He raised his shooting percentage to 13.8 percent – a 3.7 rise compared to last season. Nash led the NHL with 32 even-strength goals. He finished sixth with a plus-minus rating of plus-29 and sixth with 74 takeaways.
Nash doesn't look at last season negatively despite his shooting percentage dipping to a woeful 3.6 percent during the playoffs.
"I'm pretty happy with my performance last season," Nash said. "I thought I put up some good numbers for missing 20 regular season games. I put up a lot of goals. People forget that it takes a team effort to make the Stanley Cup Final. I would have liked to score more goals. It's my goal to do it this year. Still, I think I was a big part of the team that got to the finals."
Nash was asked by head coach Alain Vigneault to adopt a defensively focused approach during last year's Eastern Conference finals against the Montreal Canadiens and in the Stanley Cup Final against the Los Angeles Kings. Nash is again prepared to play whichever role is asked of him.
"We're all here for the same reason," Nash said. "None of us are thinking about individual awards. We want the one main one. We're all willing to do whatever it takes for the team. We're all on that same page."
Nash missed Wednesday's practice in Greenburgh because of flu-like symptoms. Vigneault said he expects Nash to play in Thursday's series opener.
CAN FLEURY HANDLE THE PRESSURE?
You never know which version of Marc-Andre Fleury will show up during the playoffs. In recent playoff campaigns, the Pens' No. 1 goalie has been either solid or abysmal.
Fleury posted a sparkling .923 save percentage in last year's series against the Rangers. It wasn't his fault that the Pens could only muster a single goal in each of the series' final three games.
"There's always eyes are on the goalie when the puck goes in, you're the last guy in front of it," Fleury said. "At the same time, I've played the game for awhile now. I know it's a team game. I'm going to try my best to keep it out of the net and try to win games. I'm going to try to keep it simple and not think too much about it."
Fleury believes his game rounded into form in the final games of the regular season.
"I felt very good," Fleury said. "It was tough because we weren't winning much. At the end of the day, it's all about the win. I'm just trying to help out. I'm just trying to win some games one at a time here."
He finished the 2014-15 regular season with a 34-20-9 record, a 2.32 goals-against average and a .920 save percentage. Fleury led the entire NHL with 10 shutouts.
KLEIN TO MISS GAME 1; CAN HUNWICK KEEP UP HIS STEADY PLAY?
Vigneault announced that two-way defenseman Kevin Klein will not play in Game 1. Klein missed the final 16 regular season games after breaking his left arm blocking an Alex Ovechkin shot on March 11 in Washington.
Klein did not practice with the team Tuesday and Wednesday in Greenburgh.
"He's day to day," Vigneault said. "I think everyone knows a broken bone takes time to heal. We anticipated four to six (weeks). We're in that range. He's been skating on his own but he's not quite ready yet to join the team."
When asked if Klein needs to practice before he can play, Vigneault responded: "Yes."
Based on defensive pairings run at practice, Matt Hunwick will skate alongside Keith Yandle. The Rangers' defensive pairings without Klein are the following: McDonagh-Girardi, Staal-Boyle, Yandle-Hunwick. 27-year-old defenseman Chris Summers has remained on the Rangers' roster as an extra defenseman.
Hunwick has proven to be a very capable fill-in. While his 11 points (two goals, nine assists) in 55 regular season games do not leap off the page, Hunwick typically plays a mistake-free hockey and is a decent puck-mover.
YANDLE COULD BE A DIFFERENCE-MAKER
After joining the Rangers on March 1, Keith Yandle has scored two goals and notched nine assists for 11 points in 21 games. That's an average of .52 points per game. While that's close to his career average of .56, it is less than his .64 P/GP he averaged during his final three seasons with the Arizona Coyotes.
Nash views Yandle as one of the league's elite all-around defenseman. In combined duty with the Rangers and Coyotes, Yandle recorded a league-high 46 assists in 84 games. He is the only defenseman to have three 40-assist seasons since 2010-11.
"I kinda knew what we were getting," Nash said. "It was a huge pickup. Playing in Columbus, I would see him four times a year and every single year. He's one of the best all-around defensemen in the league and definitely one of the best offensive guys."
Yandle is an excellent skater. He picks smart opportunities to jump into attack, is a clever puckhandler and is able to complete long stretch passes to spring his speedy teammates.
There's more to come with Yandle's game. After an initial adjustment period, he might be getting back to his best just as the playoffs get underway.
"I think Yandle could be the final piece of a Stanley Cup-winning team," Maloney said. "When you look at that defense there, he comes underneath a couple strong defenders in Marc Staal and McDonagh. Wow, that is dynamic."
Yandle could indeed be a game-changer for the Blueshirts this playoffs.
Follow Sean on Twitter – @HartnettHockey.