Top Seeded Rangers Will Live Up to Their Billing
It wasn’t easy in the first two rounds. Only the No. 8 seed next to the Ottawa Senators’ name in the playoff bracket would make you think they weren’t capable of giving the Rangers a series. The Sens came hard, and the Rangers skated away with a gritty seventh game win at the Garden. The second round was a matchup with the seventh-seeded Washington Capitals, a new look team with a defensive mindset that didn’t exactly match up with their personnel. Still, the Capitals brought the Rangers to another decisive seventh game, which the Blueshirts would skate away with on their home ice. No, it certainly wasn’t a breeze getting through the first two rounds.
