Pittsburgh Penguins look to secure fourth place with win over New York Rangers - NHL Preview
Atlantic division rivals Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Rangers face each other on Thursday, April 5, 2012 at the CONSOL Energy Center as both teams look to carry a winning momentum heading into the playoffs.
The Penguins are fourth in the Eastern Conference and need at least one win in their final two games of the regular season to secure their home ice advantage with the race for the top spot in the Eastern Conference over.
Pittsburgh will be looking to secure that spot with a win over the Eastern Conference table toppers New York Rangers in a game which could potentially be a precursor to the Eastern Conference championship match.
New York Rangers on the other hand have brushed off the Penguins challenge for the conference top spot with some brilliant results lately and will be looking to deliver a big statement of intent to their rivals.
The Rangers are top of the Eastern Conference and favourites to win the Presidents’ Cup at the end of the regular season.
Penguins (49-25-6, 104 pts)
The Penguins Challenge for victory in the Eastern Conference ended after a string of defeats in late March.
However, they have a wonderful recent head-to-head record against the Rangers with three wins in the last meetings between these two big rivals.
The wins were relatively one sided with Pittsburgh running out 4-1, 2-0 and 5-2 victors.
The Penguins last game against the Boston Bruins ended in a confidence boosting 5-3 victory as captain Sidney Crosby scored a brace and setup another goal to cap a wonderful performance.
The captain praised his team’s ruthless conversions of power play opportunities.
"A lot of the times that's the difference in hockey games when you're able to score on the power play with the way that we do such a great job killing penalties. That's a big boost if we can score on the power play."
Rangers (51-22-7, 109 pts)
New York have had one of their best seasons this year as they secured the number one seed in the Eastern Conference for the first time since 1993-94 when they lifted the Stanley Cup trophy.
The Rangers will be looking for a victory to end their run of disappointing results against their Atlantic Division rivals while also taking one step further in their goal to secure the Presidents’ Cup.
Forward Brad Richards loves the season that New York is currently enjoying and said that the team is ready for the playoffs.
"I love this; what a season. This is a great time of year. Yes, it's going to be a grind, it always is, but we have a good team here, and we have the right pieces in place. It's up to us."
Predictions
Tough one to call but Pittsburgh Penguins home advantage and recent results against the Rangers all point to the home side’s victory.
Sum of goals will be less than six.
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