5 Things the Penguins Need to Do in Order to Beat the Rangers Tonight

With a win tonight, the Penguins will lock up the four seed in the Eastern Conference and guarantee themselves home ice for at least the first round.

Who stands in their way? No one too serious...just the team who has the most wins and points in the NHL, the New York Rangers.

Tonight will be their sixth and final meeting of the regular season, and so far, the Penguins have won three of the five. Here are five keys to the Penguins clinching the four seed.

1. Play Aggressive and Don't Be Afraid to Take Penaties

The Penguins need to be physical early and often in order to shut down the top lines of the Rangers, and with that often comes a few penalties. Fear not, though, the Penguins will dominate this game on both sides of special teams.

The Rangers have the 22nd-best power play in the NHL, only converting on just over 15 percent of their chances, while the Penguins have the third-best penalty kill conversion rate in the league. Guys like Arron Asham should see a lot of ice time tonight, and he needs to go out there and play his role.

If Pittsburgh goes there and bangs New York around, they'll be right on track to getting the W tonight.

2. Convert on the Power Play

On the other end of the spectrum, the Penguins need to continue to be dominant with the man advantage. Their power play percentage is at 19.7 percent, and with only two games left in the season, Pittsburgh needs to make sure that they have all the kinks out come playoff time.

The Rangers have a good PK, but not a great one, and hopefully, the Penguins can use that to their advantage.

Their first unit is honestly scary: Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Pascal Dupuis, Chris Kunitz, Kris Letang...looks like an all-star lineup.

Side note: James Neal will sit out tonight, so Dupuis will fill his spot on the first unit.

3. Shut Down Marian Gaborik

Gaborik has been having a great year and has been really hot as of late. The 30-year-old from Slovakia has 76 points in 80 games this season. He also is riding a six-game point streak, with 10 points in the last six contests.

He had a goal, an assist and four shots the last time these two teams met, which cannot happen tonight. It will be interesting to see which line they put up against Gaborik, but I think they should have a guy like Deryk Engelland shadow him in the defensive zone. His big body and long reach should be able to cool down Gaborik's hot streak.

4. 3rd Line Has to Produce

The one thing that the Penguins have on the Rangers is depth, and Pittsburgh's third line is arguably the best in the entire NHL. The depth at center almost isn't fair, considering that Jordan Staal could start for probably half the teams around the league.

According to dailyfaceoff.com, the Penguins third line will consist of Jordan Staal centering Matt Cooke and Tyler Kennedy. That line will need to put some points on the board to take home the two points.

5. Play Like It's a Playoff Game

The Penguins need to understand how important this game is, considering there is a heavy chance that their first-round series with the Flyers (or Devils) will go seven games. Having home ice for that seventh game will be huge.

The Rangers have locked up home ice in the East, and it will be interesting to see whether or not they rest some guys tonight. They will more than likely rotate four lines, and this is something that the Penguins need to take advantage of. They have to find a way to get Crosby or Malkin out against their fourth line and utilize those matchups.

Prediction

Penguins 5, Rangers 3

I think if you step back and look at all the aspects that are going into this game, the Penguins will come out on top. This game means a lot more for Pittsburgh than it does for New York, and I think that will be the deciding factor.