WASHINGTON -- The effect of a first-round sweep and the potential for a week off before starting the Eastern Conference Second Round could go one of two ways for the New York Rangers.
"You can start to look at both opponents until you find out which one you're actually going to play, so there's some value there," Rangers coach Peter Laviolette said. "I do think rest is important. And then series that are not concluded yet that can possibly continue to go on, there might be value there.
“But there's probably a lot of proof behind the fact that a team that's gone seven and has to walk right out of a Game 7 overtime win and walk into the next series, they're right on point with their game too. It can go both ways. We'll take the time, we'll do our best to be ready, and when we find out who that is, we'll move on."
They could find out as soon as Tuesday.
The Carolina Hurricanes have a 3-1 lead on the New York Islanders. A win at home in Game 5 on Tuesday (7:30 p.m. ET; MAX, MSGSN, TBS, BSSO, SN360, TVAS) will set up a Hurricanes-Rangers second-round matchup, a rematch of their second-round series two years ago.
New York won that series in seven games, advancing after falling behind 2-0 and then 3-2. That came after the Rangers went seven games with the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first round, advancing after falling behind 3-1 in the best-of-7 series.
They didn't have anything come easy that year, and they learned the hard way the toll that long, grinding and emotional first two rounds can have on the body and mind.
The Rangers gradually ran out of gas after riding the emotion of a Game 7 win against the Hurricanes into wins in Games 1 and 2 against the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Eastern Conference Final.
The Lightning won Game 3, dominated Game 4, took some of the Rangers' will away in Game 5 and grinded out a 2-1 win in Game 6. When it ended, the Rangers admitted they were on empty, nothing left to give, totally spent from playing 20 hard games in 40 days.
Maybe if they didn't have to go seven games with the Penguins and Hurricanes that year, the Rangers would have found a way against the Lightning and reached the Stanley Cup Final.
"Obviously, that's a big factor -- to keep as fresh as we can," Rangers captain Jacob Trouba said.
And that's the value of sweeping the Washington Capitals in the first round and, even more important, coming out of it healthy too.
New York played the same 18 skaters in every game, using the same forward lines, same defense pairs, same power-play units and penalty-kill tandems. Igor Shesterkin played all 240 minutes and looked sharp, allowing seven goals on 101 shots (.931 save percentage).