Why the Rangers Will Beat Washington
It all starts in goal
Posted on Monday, April 13, 2009 at 11:10 AMThe Rangers will beat Washington in the first playoff round. If only it was so easy to play as it is to write it.
Of course, the Blueshirts matchup with the Capitals will be fraught with challenges, but that's what the playoffs are all about. For starters, The Maven wants it known up front that I'm not the least bit interested in statistics (That's why some guy made a mint writing a best-seller, "How to Lie with Statistics").
Any stats you may refer to in analyzing the Rangers and Caps come from the regular season which is HISTORY, OVER, IRRELEVANT.
This is The New Season, where things happen differently than they do in the regular campaign.
One story tells it all:
In the 1941-42 campaign, the Toronto Maple Leafs best scorer was Gordie Drillon and their two best defensemen were Bucko McDonald and Bingo Kampman. The trio were inept in the first three games of the Finals against Detroit. Leafs coach Hap Day benched them all and inserted three mostly-minor leaguers; forward Don Metz and Dmen Ernie Dickens and Bob Goldham. They became immediate stars and Toronto won four straight and The Cup.
Back to the Rangers. They'll beat Washington because they have the most important player of all, Henny Lundqvist. Goaltending wins playoffs and New York has a hot one. The Caps Jose Theodore has "Sieve" written all over him.
Now you're going to ask me, "What about Al Ovechkin?"
Good question. I love the guy along with millions of other hockey fans. However, John Tortorella has the perfect antidote to Ovie and that happens to be Sean Avery.
Or, have you forgotten how The Great Gabbo thoroughly drove Atlanta"s Ilya Kovalchuk nuts in the opening playoff round two Springs ago? The Thrashers went out in four straight and, as far as I know, Ilya is still talking to himself. Yes, I'm fully aware that the Caps also have folks such as Al Semin, Nik Backstrom and the ever-popular Vik Kozlov who know a bit about shooting the biscuit.
Oh, brother, how I respect their offense but voracious checking, A-1 goaltending and insightful blueprinting (by Torts) can defuse the best attackers. Playoffs-past prove this point over and over and over again. (Check out Bobby Orr And The Big, Bad Bruins who were knocked off by Ken Dryden and Montreal in 1971.)
What I don't respect is the Washington defense.
Yeah, the Caps have a winner in Mike Green but he's not even a defenseman. His listing to the contrary, Green actually is a ROVER. He's more interested in scoring than defending and – like Orr was – is vulnerable to a quick counterattack. After Green, I can't find anyone on the Washington roster who the Rangers really would want on their blue line.
The addition of Derek Morris has given New York a well-rounded defense. I expect Wade Redden to step up his game and there's no reason to doubt that Dan Girardi, Mike Rozsival, Paul Mara and the rest of the worthies can do the job AS A UNIT.
Clearly, I'm basing my prediction on the offense delivering. Nik Antropov, in particular, is poised for a big series. Ditto Chris Drury, Scott Gomez and – no chuckles in the balcony, please! – Nik Zherdev.
New York's penalty-killing IS the best and, who knows, maybe the power play will shape up against a mediocre Washington D this time around.
Home ice advantage? That's nonsense. I'm with Torts when he asserts that it's just as advantageous to open on the road.
Pressure, believe it or not, is on the home team. Plus, the Rangers ARE underdogs ... No matter.
NEW YORK IN SIX GAMES.
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