PITTSBURGH — How much did Alain Vigneault think he could learn from the Penguins’ first-round series against the Blue Jackets?
So much that he joked about popping a blood vessel in his eye watching game tape.
“Pulled an all-nighter – remember my school days,” Vigneault joked Friday morning, hours before this second-round series begins with Game 1 at the CONSOL Energy Center. “Popped a blood vessel in my eye from watching so many games. So, yeah, me and all the coaches had a very long night.”
The Penguins won the Metropolitan division with 109 points, 13 more than the second-place Rangers. In the first round, they drew Columbus, who, behind a terrific performance from former Ranger Brandon Dubinsky, pushed the Penguins through six tough games.
Dubinsky and his teammates held Sidney Crosby — the Hart Trophy favorite and league’s leading scorer — goalless through the six games. That is something the Rangers can only dream of accomplishing.
“It was playoff hockey and it was tough hockey,” Vigneault said, his team having gone through its own grind in needing seven games to beat the Flyers. “We’re meeting an elite team. We know coming into this series that for us to have a chance against such a good team, we’re going to have to find another level – another level of execution, another level of compete. That’s how good these guys are.
“We’re aware of that, we’re looking forward to the opportunity.”
Rangers forward Derick Brassard noted that most of the Penguins-Blue Jackets series was scheduled while the Rangers had off days, and said the team got together and watched four of the games.
“We had a chance to see the way they played, and the way Columbus [brought] their game to them,” Brassard said. “We can learn a lot from the way Columbus put everything behind the defensemen, made them defend. They forechecked very hard, they didn’t pass up many shots. That’s something that we’re going to try to do.”
There is always the task of trying to defend Crosby, as well as running mate Evgeni Malkin, who had three goals (all in Game 6) to go along with four assists.
“We’re obviously facing probably the two best players in the world,” Brassard said, “so we’re just going to have to pay attention to those players and to make them go in the tough areas. We’re going to need to be hard on them.”
There is no change expected in the Rangers lineup from Game 7 on Wednesday night, meaning Dan Carcillo will remain in on a line with Brad Richards and Carl Hagelin. J.T. Miller and Jesper Fast likely will be the healthy scratches up front.
Top-six forward Chris Kreider took the ice late in a non-contact yellow jersey. He lightly stick handled, but is unlikely to be ready until later in the series.