I’m gonna stick to what this thread SHOULD be about and make my pick and avoid all the middle school drama. Rangers in 6.
Jarry and Zucker both out to start the series. Another reason we don't have any excuses in this series. Go win it.
Unless Shest has some deer in the headlights in his first playoffs and the team has alot of defensive breakdowns, they should win this series in 6. I'd be surprised if it made it to 7, especially with Jarry out for the first few. Nothing's ever easy with the Rangers but you have to feel pretty confident going into this, even with a fairly young D and not optimal 4th line.
I see this series as the rangers in 5 although I admit I'm a bit leery in a close game of crosby selling a bogus penalty call. Otherwise, Im thinking we handle the pens fairly easily.
14/16 pickers on NHL.com picked the Rangers to beat the Pens. 21/27 pickers on ESPN.com picked the Rangers to beat the Pens. Only 16/27 picked the Canes over the Bruins, and 20/27 picked TB over the Leafs. By the pickers, Rangers a big favorite. By Vegas I think the Pens are a slight favorite. They always get over bet though due to Crosby.
It will be a long series. Maybe 7g i suppose if the Rangers have one of those games where they look lost and hang Igor out to dry. They usually have one in any playoff round they're in regardless of the year/roster.
Realistically if you were beating the no chance of the Rangers making the playoffs this past Summer you have zero cred on postseason analysis, but this is an opinion board so none of that matters. I think the gritty Rangers will be a handful for any team especially Pitt, the only thing that can keep them in a series with the Rangers is the officiating. I'm interested in seeing how well Carolina holds up to the physicality.
Lol half of Carolina’s D are rangers Smith-DeAngelo-Skjei they sucked here but there it’s a SC defense
