THE BLUESHIRTS ARE COMING!! THE BLUESHIRTS ARE COMING!! Playoffs Are On And Rangers Look to Overthrow Caps In DC

by Rich Baiocco

I know the regular season means nothing once the playoffs begin, and I know the 2 blowouts and 3 out of 4 wins against the top-seeded Capitals don't mean much but how about this: HENRIK LUNDQVIST. The legitimate Vezina candidate has worked more magic between the bars than if David Blaine and Kriss Angel were cellmates, playing 27 games down the stretch for the injury-hampered Rangers and back-boning their emotionally hectic road to the postseason with his stellar consistency. As Coach Tortorella notes, Lundqvist is "tasting it," referring to his hunger for playoff Glory. Hank himself has commented that for the past two months he's been reinvigorated, reading up on other teams, checking scores and making sure he is dominant in the painted crease. Though the Capitals have strategically modified their game to a more defensively responsible system, they still have 3 young goaltenders...and none of them are as steady as The King when he's on.

And he is on.

The Caps may have us in offense with guys like Ovetckin and Semin leading the way, but you only need to win by 1 goal and the Rangers know how to play in tight games. In fact, when we lock into our identity I don't believe there is a team in the playoffs tighter than us because our identity is that we play as a team. We don't rely on one guy to save our bacon, not even Hank--and games when he's let in some shaky goals, we've managed to rally for him, for the good of the team. Let's face it, Gaborik hasn't scored enough this season, but we haven't desperately waited for him to click--we've gone out and won games, found ways to score and Gabbi has contributed in other ways. This year's Blueshirt team looks out for one another, relentlessly forechecks, create turnovers and eats up puck possession time. We don't panic in 3rd periods or after a loss and we NEVER QUIT.

The Capitals are a more well-rounded team than when we played them in February, but they have all the pressure on them and they are not so versed in their new system that they won't panic if things don't go their way. They were knocked out in the first round last year by Montreal, and with Crosby and Malkin sidelined for the Penguins it's Ovetchkin's chance to chase the cup. We have no pressure on us--none at all. We can play loose and relaxed and really be a spoiler in this series. As my wise father says "we're playing with house money".

So let's go all in and knock these HBO Star turkeys right out of the playoffs.

Bonus Playoff Preview--Predictions.

WESTERN CONFERENCE

(1) Vancouver v. (8) Chicago --if anyone can knock off the Canucks it's the defending champs. I wouldn't sleep on Jonathan Toews at all

(2) San Jose v. (7) Los Angeles --Sharks are not the team to beat anymore. They might actually overachieve this year with less pressure on them.

(3) Detroit v. (6) Phoenix -- Last year this series was amazing, mostly due to Ranger property Wojtek Wolski who really turned heads coming in from Colorado and elevating his game with Shane Doan out injured. This year Detroit looks too strong, even with Zetterberg missing time.

(4) Anaheim v. (5) Nashville --The Ducks are my pick to come out of the West. This will be the best series in the conference during the first round though.

EASTERN CONFERENCE

(1) Washington v. (8) New York --You know my pick

(2) Philadelphia v. (7) Buffalo --Yaaaaawwwwnnn. I can't stand either of these teams

(3) Boston v. (6) Montreal --wow, i hope this is an all out war, 1970s style. Boston has the clear edge--I don't know how to say I Hate Charra in French but I'm sure those are the words in every Canadian fans' mouth.

(4) Pittsburgh v. (5) Tampa Bay -- It's noble that Pittsburgh has been as good as it has without Crosby or Malkin, but I don't see either of those guys getting back into it for this series and Tampa is going to pull this out. Slow season end by Stamkos won't last, watch for him putting up big numbers.