(1) Washington Capitals Vs. (8) New York Rangers:
Despite a very successful regular season in which the New York Rangers won three of four games against the Washington Capitals, it is hard to believe that the Caps will be upset in the playoffs for the second consecutive year.
The Caps are a very different team from last season, choosing to concentrate on an all-round game, which includes an emphasis on defense and balanced scoring.
The Caps won 16 of their final 20 games this season. Needless to say, it’s tough to get any hotter than that down the stretch, which should serve the Caps well in the playoffs.
Despite not being known as an offensive juggernaut, the Rangers actually scored more goals than the Caps this season (233-224). The Capitals gave up one less goal on the season, but nobody is going to be calling Washington’s goaltending a position of strength over the Rangers Henrik Lundqvist.
Overall, the Rangers had a better goals for/goals against differential (+35 to +27), but given the fact that the Capitals finished 14 points ahead of the Rangers in the standings it’s tough to put much value in tho ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NHL
Article written by Mark Ritter
2011 NHL Stanley Cup Playoff Predictions: Eastern Conference
April 11th, 2011 by Mark Ritter Leave a reply »
Advertisement