One of the NHL's fantasy playoff matchups, Sidney Crosby and the Penguins against the big-market Rangers, drops the puck for Game 1 on Friday night in Pittsburgh, with the Pens -145 money line betting favorites (over/under: 5) on WagerWeb.com in the opener.
Believe it or not, the last time these two teams met in the playoffs was in 1996, when Pittsburgh's Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr were two of the best in the NHL.
Well, Crosby has taken Lemieux's spot as the league's glamour player - and Jagr is a Ranger.
The Penguins are coming off a first-round sweep of Ottawa and, with the 20-year-old Crosby and the 21-year-old Evgeni Malkin, might own the best center combination on a Stanley Cup challenger since the Oilers' days with Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier.
They also might be the NHL's best tandem since Lemieux and Jagr in Pittsburgh, with Crosby winning the scoring title last season and Malkin coming in second to Alex Ovechkin this season.
Pittsburgh's Marian Hossa, who was acquired at the trade deadline to play alongside Crosby on the top line, has a reputation for disappearing in the playoffs, but he ranked third on the team with five points against the Senators.
Jagr, meanwhile, had two goals and six assists during the Rangers' five-game elimination of New Jersey in Round 1, and two goals and five assists as the Rangers won five of eight from Pittsburgh during the season. Crosby had a goal and seven assists in seven games against New York.The Rangers have gotten a spark from 21-year-old Brandon Dubinsky. Centering Jagr's line, Dubinsky had three goals and six points in the first round after netting 14 goals and 40 points in the regular season.
For all the offensive firepower in this series, it will come down to goaltending.
Pittsburgh's Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 107 Ottawa shots with a .955 save percentage. He has lost only twice in his last 21 regulation decisions.
The Rangers' Henrik Lundqvist went 37-24-10 this year with a 2.24 goals-against average. In 18 career playoff games, he has a 10-8 record with a 2.52 GAA. He had a .917 save-percentage and 2.35 GAA in the first round, but the Devils did score 10 goals in the final three games of their series.
On defense, the Pens have the advantage offensively with Sergei Gonchar (second among NHL defensemen in the regular season with 65 points) and Ryan Whitney. But the Rangers, with a no-name defense - led by Michal Rozsival and Marc Staal - and a team approach to keeping the puck out of the net, were one of just five teams to allow fewer than 200 goals during the regular season.
The Rangers' power play had plenty of success against the Pens during the regular season (9-for-42). And the Rangers' fine penalty-killers minimized the damage done by the Penguins' talent-laden power play (5-for-35).
Home ice should play a big role in this series: The Penguins have won 10 in a row at home, but are 0-3-1 in Madison Square Garden. The Rangers have only three regulation losses in their last 30 games, but needed to go to overtime for their only win in Pittsburgh all season.
Betting trends: Rangers are 4-1 in their last 5 road games. . Rangers are 16-5 in their last 21 vs. a team with a winning record. . Penguins are 4-0 in their last 4 playoff games as a favorite. . Penguins are 43-15 in their last 58 games as a home favorite. Over is 6-1 in Rangers' last 7 overall. . Under is 9-2 in Penguins' last 11 overall. . Favorite is 10-1 in the last 11 meetings. . Under is 7-1 in the last 8 meetings in Pittsburgh.
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