Capitals-Rangers Preview

The Washington Capitals begin the 2011 postseason tomorrow night against the New York Rangers at Verizon Center. A look at how the teams compare:

Season Series: Rangers, 3-1 (Caps 1-2-1)
Playoff history: Caps, 3-2
Last playoff meeting: Caps, 4-3, in 2009 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals

Washington Capitals
Record: 48-23-11 (107 points)
Last 10 Games: 7-2-1
Goals Per Game: 2.67 (19th in NHL)
GAA: 2.33 (fourth)
Power Play: 17.5 (16th)
Penalty Kill: 85.6 (T-2nd)

New York Rangers
Record: 44-33-5 (93 points)
Last 10 Games: 6-3-1
Goals Per Game: 2.73 (16th)
GAA: 2.38 (fifth)
Power Play: 16.9 percent (18th)
Penalty Kill: 83.7 percent (10th)

Four keys to the series:
* Seize momentum: When the teams met during the regular season, the Rangers got ahead early and cruised to victories of 7-0 on Dec. 12 and 6-0 on Feb. 25. The other two games, a 5-3 Caps win on Nov. 9 and a 2-1 shootout loss on Jan. 24, were a lot closer and the Caps must find a way to take an early lead against the Blueshirts. Their inability to do so doomed them to two-straight home losses when the teams met two postseasons ago. This time around, anything less than a 2-0 series lead going to Madison Square Garden should be cause for concern.

* Storm the Crease: This isn't anything new for the Caps, but it might be more attainable this year. In the playoffs, and especially against the Rangers' world class goaltender, Henrik Lundqvist, ugliness wins. It's no coincidence that Brooks Laich, John Erskine, Matt Hendricks and Mike Knuble were the Caps' goal scorers against New York this season. Alex Ovechkin is playing much better now and has notched 1.43 points per game (including a record 0.71 goals per game) during his postseason career. Aggressive Ovie must be prevalent in this series for the Caps to advance.

* Special Teams: The Caps' penalty kill was stellar all season and they must continue that against the Rangers 18th-ranked power play. But the Caps' struggling power play must find a way to score somewhat regularly against New York's pretty good penalty kill. Despite a great PK, repeating last postseason's three-percent-effective power play will be a huge obstacle to overcome.

* Avoid Game Seven: Under Bruce Boudreau, the Caps have played in four playoff series (13-15) and ventured into a game seven every time. They've overcome a 3-1 deficit (against the Rangers in 2009) and blown a 3-1 lead (against the Montreal Canadiens last year). They've also blown a 2-0 lead (against the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2009) and lost in game seven after tying a 2008 series against the Philadelphia Flyers after being down, 3-1. But they've never won a series in less than seven games, something the man known as Gabby has stressed times after time. This has got to be the year that the Caps accomplish that all-important goal.

Prediction: Caps in six.