The Rangers still were relishing their 2-1 win over the Flyers in Game 7 of their first-round playoff series on Wednesday night at the Garden, but the inevitable questions about their upcoming opponent arose.
That opponent being the Penguins, who ran away with the Metropolitan Division with 109 points, 13 more than the second-place Rangers, and then beat their first-round foes, the Blue Jackets, in six games.
“It’s there for you — you understand what their lineup has,” said No. 1 defenseman Ryan McDonagh, still trying to round into form after missing the final five games of the regular season with a left shoulder injury. “It’s depth, it’s skating D-men, mobile, smart guys that have been together for a while. Good chemistry.
“We’ve got to really be sharp again, maintain our discipline and our structure.”
Rangers fourth-line center Dominic Moore was announced as a finalist for the Bill Masterton Memorial Award, voted on annually by each chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers Association and given “to the player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey.”
Moore’s wife, Katie, died of a rare liver cancer in January of 2013, and he decided to sit out all of last season’s lockout-shortened campaign. This summer, he returned to sign a one-year, $1 million deal with the Rangers, who originally drafted him out of Harvard in 2003.
The other finalists were both former Rangers: Jaromir Jagr of the Devils and Manny Malhotra of the Hurricanes. The winner will be announced at the NHL Awards on June 24 in Las Vegas.
A man in a Henrik Lundqvist jersey won a two-year lease on a new Lexus by making a half-ice shot through a puck-sized hole during the second intermission.
The Rangers’ power play got only one opportunity on Wednesday, and failed to score for the 21st consecutive time. The unit hasn’t scored since early in Game 2.
“The key is poise,” Brad Richards said before the game. “I think [in Game 6, a 5-2 loss] we just pressed too hard and we were shooting pucks when the other guys were expecting to set up, and when we wanted to set up, the other four guys were expecting a shot. I think we just gripped it a little to tight and tried to make it happen in the first 30 seconds of the power play instead of being patient.”