3 Keys: Penguins at Rangers, Game 1 of Eastern First Round
DeSmith replaces injured goalie Jarry for Pittsburgh against Shesterkin, New York
The New York Rangers will play their first home game in the Stanley Cup Playoffs in nearly five years when they face the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference First Round at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday.
The Rangers have not hosted a playoff game since May 9, 2017, a 4-2 series-ending loss in Game 6 of the second round against the Ottawa Senators, also the last time they played a game in a best-of-7 series.
Only forwards Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad remain from that Rangers team.
"This is what you play 82 [games] for, to get an opportunity to play in playoffs, win these rounds, win these games," Kreider said. "We tried to play a specific way over these last 82 games and that shouldn't change for us now."
The Penguins are in the playoffs for the 16th straight season. They haven't won a series since the first round in 2018, the last in a streak of nine consecutive playoff series wins.
Pittsburgh is 5-15 in the postseason since.
"There's a lot of Stanley Cup rings in that locker room and I believe these guys can draw on those experiences to help us," Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. "That's something from our standpoint could be a competitive advantage."
Teams that win Game 1 are 499-228 (68.6 percent) winning a best-of-7 NHL playoff series, including 6-2 in the first round last season.
Here are 3 keys to Game 1:
1. Paging Mr. DeSmith
The Rangers will have Igor Shesterkin in net. He's arguably the favorite for the Vezina Trophy voted as the best goalie in the NHL. Shesterkin won 36 games and led the NHL with a 2.07 goals-against average and .935 save percentage with six shutouts.
The Penguins will have Casey DeSmith because Tristan Jarry will miss at least the first two games with a lower-body injury sustained April 14.
DeSmith was Jarry's backup until he started five of the last six games of the regular season. He went 3-2-0 with a 2.24 GAA and .940 save percentage.
"I don't see any difference as far as how he's approaching it," Penguins center Sidney Crosby said of DeSmith. "He's seen a lot of action lately. I think he's confident in his game. We're confident in him and he's been great, so he just has to go out there and do the same thing."
2. Containing Crosby's line
The Penguins' top line of Crosby, Bryan Rust and Jake Guentzel has been held to a combined 18 points (nine goals, nine assists) in 14 games the past three playoffs.
Pittsburgh is 3-11.
"Every year playoffs take on their own story and there are different reasons over the years for some of the successes and some of the disappointments we've had," Sullivan said. "I like to believe we're a forward-thinking group and we're not going to hold onto the past."
3. Power up
The Rangers rarely have had the advantage on the power play against the Penguins since Crosby and Evgeni Malkin began playing together more than 15 years ago.
But that changed this season, with New York finishing fourth at 25.2 percent and Kreider leading the NHL with 26 power-play goals.
Pittsburgh was 19th at 20.2 percent, but 31st in April, going 2-for-31 (6.5 percent) with two shorthanded goals against.
"It's just about keeping it simple and adding value," Kreider said, "but obviously there are some things that allowed us to have success this year that we have to lean on."
Crosby said he can't explain the Penguins' power-play struggles in April, but Sullivan said their underlying numbers on the man-advantage such as shot attempts, zone entries, puck retrievals and scoring chances suggest they should be better.
"I know what [the players] are capable of and this is the time of year I think they embrace it and enjoy it the most," Sullivan said. "They've always shown an ability to elevate their games when the stakes are high."
Penguins projected lineup
Jake Guentzel -- Sidney Crosby -- Bryan Rust
Danton Heinen -- Evgeni Malkin -- Rickard Rakell
Brock McGinn -- Jeff Carter -- Kasperi Kapanen
Brian Boyle -- Teddy Blueger -- Evan Rodrigues
Brian Dumoulin -- Kris Letang
Mike Matheson -- Chad Ruhwedel
Marcus Pettersson -- John Marino
Casey DeSmith
Louis Domingue
Scratched:Mark Friedman, Drew O'Connor
Injured:Tristan Jarry (lower body), Jason Zucker (lower body), Nathan Beaulieu (lower body)
Rangers projected lineup
Chris Kreider -- Mika Zibanejad -- Frank Vatrano
Artemi Panarin -- Ryan Strome -- Andrew Copp
Alexis Lafreniere -- Filip Chytil -- Kaapo Kakko
Barclay Goodrow -- Kevin Rooney -- Ryan Reaves
Ryan Lindgren -- Adam Fox
K'Andre Miller -- Jacob Trouba
Patrik Nemeth -- Braden Schneider
Igor Shesterkin
Alexandar Georgiev
Scratched:Libor Hajek, Greg McKegg, Julien Gauthier, Justin Braun, Dryden Hunt, Jonny Brodzinski
Injured:Tyler Motte (upper body)
Status report
Jarry and Zucker, a forward, are each day to day and will not play. Zucker took part in the optional morning skate and has not been cleared for contact, but Sullivan said he has not been ruled out for Game 2. … Panarin (upper body) and Copp (lower body) will play after missing the final two games of the regular season. Each skated Saturday and were full participants in practice Sunday and Monday.
