1st-round preview: Penguins look to stay hot in battle with Rangers

For the third year in a row, the Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Rangers will meet in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

The Rangers took the last two series' en route to two deep playoff runs, while the Penguins we're the NHL's hottest team to close out the regular season, winning 15 of their final 16 games.

Related: Panthers-Islanders, Stars-Wild, Red Wings-Lightning, Capitals-Flyers

Pittsburgh won the season series 3-1, and looks to make it past the first round for the first time since 2013, and only the second time since they won it all in 2009. New York, meanwhile, will look to recapture the magic that won them a Presidents' Trophy a year ago, after a season of regression.

Tale of the tape

Key players

Sidney Crosby

This is an obvious one.

Crosby emphatically silenced naysayers after a slow start to the season. He finished third in league scoring with 85 points while captaining the Penguins on a second-half tear, which clinched home ice for at least the first round.

As always, Crosby will be the center of attention, and it will be up to an ailing Rangers blue line to slow him down. Crosby closed out the regular season with 11 points in his final 10 games, nine of which were wins. Despite what critics say, "Sid the Kid" has put up 118 points in 100 career playoff contests, and will be the key to the Penguins success with Evgeni Malkin on the shelf for the time being.

Rick Nash

Rangers winger Nash endured a difficult season. The 31-year-old only suited up for 60 games, recording 36 points - a career low. Nash will need to find his scoring touch in the playoffs, something that hasn't boded well for him in the past, with only 10 goals in 60 career postseason games.

Nash said he's happy with his defensive game, but now, more than ever, he needs to reverse his playoff misfortunes and produce offensively if the Rangers want to go deep again.

The Rangers' acquisition of Eric Staal hasn't gone to plan so far, and New York will need depth scoring to ease Henrik Lundqvist's workload, and ultimately advance.

Keith Yandle

The Rangers will need to suppress Pittsburgh's potent offense to be successful, and that starts with Yandle.

With captain Ryan McDonagh out of the lineup, look for Yandle to step up on both ends of the ice. While fellow blue-liner Dan Girardi - if healthy - will be tasked with shot-blocking and physical play, Yandle, as usual, will quarterback the Rangers' breakouts and powerplays.

A pending free agent, Yandle is not only playing for a chance at the Cup, but also his future, and he'll look to shine brightest with plenty of teams watching.

Schedule

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