The Rangers will play Montreal in the second round if Washington wins and Pittsburgh if Philadelphia wins. Much to my dismay, they will not be playing Philadelphia, meaning I will not go there, catch 2 games at the Wach, and eat cheesesteaks at Pat's, Gino's, and Tony Luke's.
I think they would rather see Montreal in the next phase of the Journey to the Cup. For the following reasons:
:: Pittsburgh seemed to be better in the first round, dispatching of Ottawa with ease while the Habs were almost on the ropes against Boston.
:: Montreal is beatable without a power play. Look at Boston, who didn't beat them in the regular season, then could have won the series if they happened to win in overtime in Game 2. They were (I think) 3-for-33 on the power play this series, and the Rangers already went 3-0-1 against them (Montreal was 1-2-1 against the Rangers).
:: Montreal played 7 games and will be on 3 days rest instead of over a week for Pittsburgh. The stress of a 7-game series is much more intense than the cakewalk through a four-game sweep. Think if the Islanders took Buffalo to the brink in the first round in 2007 that they would have beaten the Rangers last year?
My fourth point was going to be about the Flyers beating on the Penguins, and how violent that series would be, then I realized that's an impossible outcome, and if the Rangers play Montreal, the Caps would play Pittsburgh. The Penguins would probably sleepwalk through that series.
Regardless, even if the Rangers meet Sidney, Evgeni, Petr, Ryan, Ryan, the other Hossa, and Marc-Andre, I think they could beat them. They were 5-3 against them in the regular season, including 2 wins after the trade deadline. (Pittsburgh was 3-4-1 against the Rangers.) Plus, to get to the Cup, you have to beat everyone, right?
Bring on Round 2.
* * *
Congratulations are in order to my Islander fan blogger. No, not for the 5th overall draft pick (and the next Scott Scissons, hopefully, yeah!), but for the birth of his daughter, Kylie, at 9:33 tonight.
I can't wait to get her one of those little pink jerseys with the Rangers symbol on it for her 1st birthday!
I was actually wearing an Islanders shirt when we delivered. The first thing Cory's gynecologist said was "Why didn't you pick a better player to get a t-shirt for than Comrie? He sucks!". Anyway, all the pictures from the hospital that night show little Kylie and an Islanders logo. So don't plan on buying her any Rangers paraphernalia. Besides, she already has TWO Islander baby sets.
ReplyDelete