NHL postseason opening round quick hits: Rangers vs. Penguins

Vitals
New York: (46-27-9) 3rd in Metropolitan Division
Pittsburgh: (48-26-8) 2nd in Metropolitan Division

Season Series
The Pens won three of the four tilts against the Rangers this season, including a 3-2 overtime victory in the series finale at Madison Square Gardens March 27.

Looking at the Matchup
Even with the Pens entering the playoffs on a hot streak, the health of their goaltenders is a concern, with starter Marc-Andre Fleury working his way back from sustaining a concussion, while his backup Matt Murray was taken out of last Saturday’s game against the Flyers after Brayden Schenn knocked Murray in the head  and sent his mask flying off. How the rest of the Pens play in front of whichever banged-up goalie gets the start this series could make or break their chances of making it to the second round. It will also behoove them to get the puck past Henrik Lundqvist — something they had difficulty with when New York bumped Pittsburgh from last year’s playoffs.

The Rangers aren’t much better off in the injury department, having been without captain Ryan McDonagh on and off throughout their 2015-2016 campaign, and they're are also missing Dan Girardi with an upper-body injury. They will have to take advantage of their depth on both offense and the blue line to simmer the red-hot Penguins.

Quotables
"His will to win, you can’t measure it... He’s looking forward to the challenge. ‘B’ won’t win it. We need the ‘A’ game.” —Alain Vigneault, head coach New York Rangers, speaking of starting goaltender Henrik Lundqvist ( via the New York Times)