NHL

Anemic power play a concern for Rangers

BOSTON — When the Rangers take the ice at the TD Garden for Thursday night’s Game 1 of their second-round series against the Bruins, there will be a huge snowball chasing them.

That is to say there is no way for them to avoid the fact their power play was more a detriment than a positive in their seven-game first-round win over the Capitals. And if the man-advantage gets off to a slow start again this round, the Rangers already know what kind of self-fueling confidence killer it can be.

“I think at the start of the [Washington] series we had some good looks but didn’t score . . . then it kind of just took on a life of its own,” Brad Richards said Wednesday. “We started pressing on it, kind of lost ourselves a little bit, had some chances to maybe win a game along the way but didn’t and sometimes that can have the reverse effect.”

RANGERS PLAYOFF SCHEDULE

The Blueshirts’ power play finished the series 2-for-28 (7.1 percent), which was 15th of the 16 teams that made the playoffs — better than just the Wild, who went 0-for-17 and lost to the Blackhawks in five games. If there is any good news for the Rangers, it’s they are facing a different penalty kill, which at least could freshen things up for a group that is nothing if not stagnant.

“It’s a different PK now, too. We’re not facing the same structure,” Richards said. “We have to adjust to how they’re going to PK. That’s what we’re doing [at yesterday’s practice], get a feel for what they’re going to do.”

Because of the parity among the teams that make the playoffs, very often those with the best special teams are the ones that prevail. The one recent exception would be the 2011 Bruins, who won the Stanley Cup in spite of the fact they finished with the worst-ranked power play (11.4 percent) of any team that got beyond the first round.

But that’s the outlier, and the Rangers know it.

“As you go further and further,” said coach John Tortorella, “special teams and power play has more of a role.”

* In the NHL’s Stadium Series, the Rangers are the winner.

What was reported weeks ago was made official yesterday when the league announced two outdoor games next season to be played at Yankee Stadium. The first is on Jan. 26, between the Devils and Rangers, with the second on Jan. 29, between the Islanders and Rangers. The following Sunday, Feb. 2, the Super Bowl will be played at MetLife Stadium.

For both games, the Blueshirts are the “away team”, meaning they will retain 41 games at the Garden while both the Devils and Islanders will lose a home game.

* The Bruins’ Patrice Bergeron, who scored both the game-tying and game-winning goals in Game 7 against the Maple Leafs on Monday, was named one of the three finalists for the Selke Award. Bergeron won the award last season for being the league’s best defensive forward, and would be just the sixth player to win in back-to-back seasons.

The other two finalists are the Red Wings’ Pavel Datsyuk and the Blackhawks’ Jonathan Toews.

bcyrgalis@nypost.com