It's shaping up to be the shortest spring in five seasons for the Broadway Blueshirts.
The Pittsburgh Penguins can return the favor from last season Saturday afternoon and end the New York Rangers' playoff bid in similarly swift five-game fashion with a victory on home ice.
Here are three reasons why for the first time in a long while the Rangers don't appear as though they'll sniff a second round:
Laboring Lundqvist
Most pundits would side with New York's Henrik Lundqvist when assessing which team has the advantage in net, even with Marc-Andre Fleury healthy and available for the Penguins.
But through four games in this series, one of the most tested, consistently dominant postseason performers has been outmatched by another team's depth.
Journeyman Jeff Zatkoff and rookie sensation Matt Murray, each with two starts, have conceded seven goals in four games, and stopped pucks at a combined rate .938 clip. Lundqvist, meanwhile, was beaten nine times on 90 shots before being pulled early in the second period of Game 4.
Really, it's unfair to single out Lundqvist, but his save percentage, clinging at .900, is a far cry from his career average under the brightest lights.
Real special
Pittsburgh's special teams were formidable this season, finishing eighth in combined power play and penalty kill. But rarely did they sizzle like this.
The Pens have scored seven times on 19 opportunities against New York's kill, including three in their Game 4 shellacking at Madison Square Garden. What's perhaps more impressive though, is a penalty kill that's allowed one goal on 16 opportunities.
Factor in a shorthanded goal per side and the Penguins hold an 8-2 margin on special teams. What better formula to combat New York's enduring 5-on-5 success (at least in terms of scoring).
Burners
No, it's not as simple as the net difference from Carl Hagelin trading in a blue sweater for black. But the speed in which the Penguins are using to dominate the Rangers was actually a strength of New York's when the teams met last year.
But since Mike Sullivan removed the team's governor - unleashing an inner break-neck tempo - the Penguins have been dominating the opposition, and have overwhelmed a plodding Rangers defense with its pace.
