Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Rangers vs. Penguins ESPN Preview

I'm sure there's going to be hundreds of series previews across the net. I'll try to post as many as possible...

Here is ESPN.com's preview of the series...

"The Penguins appear to have taken the lessons learned in their first-round defeat against the Ottawa Senators last spring to heart, banishing those same Sens from the playoffs in four quick games this postseason. The Rangers, meanwhile, have also been maturing, advancing to the second round for the second straight season after ousting the New Jersey Devils in five games.

Both teams look like they are built for the long haul, but, of course, only one will prevail. The two represent contrasts in style with the offensively deep Penguins looking to run opposing teams out of the building, while the patient and disciplined Rangers wait for opposing teams to make mistakes and then pounce. The Penguins are blessed with young, emerging talent like Crosby, Jordan Staal, Kris Letang and Evgeni Malkin, who was a force in the first round, while the Rangers will be relying on veterans Jaromir Jagr, Scott Gomez, Chris Drury and Brendan Shanahan to carry the day....

...The Penguins have the edge in offense, and if Fleury can saw off Lundqvist, they should advance. Penguins in six."

...pretty confident that we're not going to see many so-called experts picking the Rangers to advance. Which is great because the Rangers can use the whole "us versus the world" mentally to get themselves pumped up for the series.

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