New York Rangers-Washington Capitals: Cinderella Goes to Washington

If the Stanley Cup Playoffs started tomorrow, instead of a month from now, the Washington Capitals would host the New York Rangers. The Cinderella Rangers might be in trouble as they have not had a victory over the Capitals this year.

On the other hand, the Capitals could be surprised as they have not seen the Rangers since they turned into a Cinderella team.

The Capitals are in third place with 94 points and the Rangers are in sixth place with 82. Both teams are currently moving up in the standings.

The Caps are led by Alex Ovechkin who leads the league in goals. He won the Art Ross Trophy, the Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy, the Hart Trophy and the Lester B. Pearson Award last season and was the first player in NHL history to win all four awards.
 
Ovechkin and Mike Green were named to the Sporting News All-Star Team, with Ovechkin being the Sporting News Player of the Year.

The New  York Rangers were led by Jaromir Jagr, Martin Straka, Brendan Shanahan, and Sean Avery. Jagr went to the KHL, Straka went to play in the Czech Republic, Shanahan's a Devil, and Avery went to the Dallas Stars—but now he's back.

In a match-up between Ovechkin and the Capitals versus Avery and the Rangers, Washington might have an advantage as Ovechkin won the Maurice "Rocket Richard Trophy and Avery was in the Rocket Richard movie. He played the role of Ranger Bob "Killer" Dill.

The Rangers have the top-ranked penalty-killing unit in the NHL this year.
The Capitals defense is their achille's heel if Green is out of the lineup.

The Caps beat the 'Gers 3-1, then 5-4, and 2-1, but they tied, 4-4, in their last meeting. That means the Rangers have been gaining ground on the Capitals over the year. If that trend continues, the Rangers could upset the Capitals.

The Capitals have not yet met the new-look Rangers.The Rangers are re-energized thanks to the return of Avery and the addition of Nik Antropov up front, Derek Morris on the blueline, and John Tortorella behind the bench.

Antropov, now that he is no longer playing for the Toronto Maple Leafs, is scoring more goals. Avery has turned into more of a scorer, too.

Tortorella just set a record for wins by an American coach in the NHL. Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist just set an NHL record by winning 30 games for his fourth year in a row since joining the Rangers.

The New Yorkers are hard to beat in Madison Square Garden but the Capitals would have the home ice advantage.