Yes, this series was a mismatch that should’ve ended just as it did, in a four-game sweep. The Rangers are, stem to stern, better than the Washington Capitals — more skilled, certainly deeper with an elite goalie as well as a seemingly-endless reservoir of resiliency. One team won the Presidents’ Trophy; the other was the last one to clinch a playoff spot.
But give the Blueshirts credit for managing a business-like, first-round victory that got them to the second round. And got them some rest, which can be so valuable this time of year. Past Ranger teams know full well what it’s like to grind through the slog of a long series.
Heck, plenty of skaters on this year’s model went through that stretch in 2021-22 when the Blueshirts needed seven games to navigate each of the first two rounds of the playoffs. By the time they got to the Eastern Conference Finals against Tampa Bay, they were spent and they lost in six games. Maybe a break can help fuel a deep run.
While Peter Laviolette told reporters in Washington that time off “can go both ways,” the coach also acknowledged that the six days were valuable between the end of this regular season and the opener with Washington.
“We got rest and time to prepare and work on things on the ice,” Laviolette said. “There’s real value in that. … I do think the rest is important.”
Maybe it’ll work as the Rangers, who beat Washington, 4-2, Sunday night in Game 4, await their next opponent.
The Blueshirts were the first team in the NHL to advance and will play the winner of the series between the Islanders and Carolina Hurricanes. Carolina has a 3-1 lead entering Game 5, but it had a chance to sweep and get a long break and lost Game 4. Florida, another conference foe that could loom in the Rangers’ way later, also failed in its sweep try and faces a fifth game against Tampa Bay.
So while teams like Carolina are skating against a team playing for its hockey life, the Rangers can go back to the ice lab. If the series against Washington is any indication, there’s not much to fix. The Rangers were terrific, thriving behind their strong power play and their stingy penalty kill.
But, as hard-fought and physical as these four games against Washington were, it’s only going to get harder from here. Much harder.
The Rangers are unlikely to hold the lead in their next series for all but a total of 3:21 — that’s as long as the Caps were ahead in the entire four games as the Rangers kept answering quickly when they fell behind.
Will they be able to smother a star in the same way they handled Washington’s Alex Ovechkin? Ovechkin, who has scored the second-most goals in NHL history, was held without a point in a playoff series for the first time in his illustrious career.
While that was going on, the Rangers’ own stars were soaring. Artemi Panarin, who struggled in last year’s first-round loss to the Devils, scored twice in the series, including the game-winner in Game 4. Mika Zibanejad had a goal and six assists and became just the eighth Ranger ever to open a postseason with an assist streak of at least four consecutive games.
Igor Shesterkin, who allowed only seven games, was tremendous. Again. Hot goalie, anyone?
Vincent Trocheck scored three goals and had three assists and seemed to win every single faceoff.
And they didn’t let the series devolve when things got chippy, while still playing physical hockey. Washington agitator Tom Wilson and his teammates tried to engage the Rangers several times, but they never let that affect their strong play.
They’ve won nothing yet, of course, other than a series they should have. The Rangers still need 12 more victories to accomplish what they want. But there’s something to the Rangers doing what they had to against a weaker opponent and giving themselves a chance to keep their tank full going forward.
They did what they had to do.
Now, who’s next?
