More NHL: | | | | | For the fourth time in five seasons, the and will make their acquaintances in the playoffs. That's all before they join the same conference starting next season.If it's anything like last year's series, it probably won't be must-see TV. About the only thing positive you could say about that series is that it had Darius Miller Jersey some drama with a few overtime games, including a triple-OT battle in Washington. Outside of that, it was low-scoring, shot-blocking hockey.Thankfully, that shouldn't be the case again. It was kind of a perfect mixture for such a series last year when the Rangers were led by John Tortorella and the Capitals had Dale Hunter. Torts is still there -- and he returns to the site of his great -- but Adam Oates is now coaching the Caps instead of Hunter. The effects took a while to show this season, but the Caps are as far away from Hunter Hockey as could be. Under Oates, the Caps progre sively got better and better as the season wore along, of course led by the surge of after Oates moved him to the right wing instead of the left side. As a result, the Caps were able to complete an impre sive comeback -- even if it was the Southeast Division -- and win the division title. They have been one of the best teams in the second half.The Rangers, meanwhile, had high hopes coming into the season but for the most part fell short of that in the regular season. The good news is that a team can make everybody forget about that with succe s in the playoffs. They finished the season strong by winning seven of their last nine to climb up to the six seed. Of course, that was also mostly against non-playoff teams. This is the battle of strength on strength. The Capitals have been a scorching-hot team in the second half of the season and it's led to them to becoming a top-five offense in the league again in terms of goals scored. The catalyst is obviously Ovechkin, who had 23 goals in the final 23 games and has really taken off playing on the right wing after a slow adjustment period in the beginning of the season. The concern is that the Caps aren't a strong po se sion team and have had a lot of their succe s with a high shooting percentage of 10.8 percent. Playoff hockey and the Rangers specifically could precipitate a fall back to a more average rate. If it weren't for the Rangers' defensive abilities, they might not have even qualified for the playoffs. Once again, they were a top-five defense in the league this season, finishing fourth with a measly 2.25 goals against per game despite being without one of their best defensemen for much of the season in Marc Staal. Considering they are still Tortorella's team, they block shots. led all defensemen in blocks this season and did the same among forwards. Plus, it helps playing in front of a King. The Rangers couldn't score for most of the season and the struggles were being pinned mostly on and the departed . Perhaps it was the additions they got at the trade deadline that added some depth, or maybe it was the soft schedule to close, but the Rangers got a major uptick in offense in the final weeks of the season. They had 14 goals in a two-game span. Even if that scoring outburst is attributable to poor defenses, it could have been the confidence boost they needed. is the focal point as he has been all they hoped for with 21 goals and 21 a sists, but was actually the team leader in points. They can throw two lines out there with double-digit scorers.The Caps don't have the strongest defense in the league, finishing 18th in the NHL with 2.71 goals against per game. Under Oates, they are resembling the Capitals of a few years ago more and more. The big concern is that the Caps give up a lot of shots, the third most in the league at 32.3 per game. It has helped having a healthy back because not only is he arguably the best offensive defenseman in the NHL -- he led all Dmen with 12 goals -- but he does help them break out of the zone and get on the rush where Ovechkin can work his magic. The big shot blocker is , who finished third in the league, two behind Girardi. The Rangers will just about always have the advantage in this department as long as is still playing. He was probably the Rangers' MVP again this season, finishing with an impre sive .926 save percentage and a goals against average of 2.05. Over his career his numbers are lower in the playoffs than the regular season but a lot of that fear was put to rest last year when Lundqvist had a .931 save percentage in 20 postseason games. Simply put, he's one of the best in the busine s.The Caps counter with , a guy who has not received anywhere near enough of the credit he deserves for Washington's second-half surge. Holtby broke out on the scene last year in the playoffs and carried it over into this season pretty well. Despite facing as many shots as he does, he finished with a .920 save percentage, an above-average number. What makes this version of the Caps different than those run-and-gun teams of a few years ago is that they no longer seem to have a big liability in the crease. The question is if Holtby can rekindle that playoff magic he had last year in Hunter's system when he had a .935 save percentage in 14 games. The power play is where the Capitals really do their work. They hit on 26.8 percent of chances this season, the top unit in the league. This is where Ovechkin has really excelled, scoring 16 of his 32 goals on the man advantage. It's also where Green's presence has been huge, playing at one of the point positions. Their PK is a concern, though. Washington killed just 77.9 percent of penalties this season, the fourth-worst percentage in the league. The question is if that will be a big concern against the Rangers, who once again struggled on the power play. They haven't been able to figure that out over the years. This season they hit on just 15.7 percent of opportunities, the 23rd best mark in the league. You'd think they'd make up for it on the PK unit but that was just average, checking in at 15th in the league.How this series goes in terms of penalties will have a big impact on the series. Washington would welcome a penalty fest while the Rangers would love to stay at even strength. New York was actually the third-best team in the league this season at 5-on-5. That's their recipe for succe s. Tough series to predict, but I'm going to go on a limb and say the Caps stay hot a little longer. Sindarius Thornwell Jersey