NHL Playoff Schedule 2012: Top Seed Spells Bad News for Rangers

Earning the top seed the playoffs means you're the best. Unfortunately, it also means you're in trouble.

The New York Rangers will enter this year's postseason with the top seed in the Eastern Conference after an impressively consistent season and yet they enter the playoffs knowing that the top seed hasn't reached the finals—never mind won the Stanley Cup—since 2004.

They also enter the playoffs knowing that they might have to face the Washington Capitals in the first round. If Washington ends up with a seventh or eighth seed instead of a three at the conclusion of Saturday's regular-season games, it could present the most challenging first-round matchup for any team this year.

New York, despite playing like a Stanley Cup contender throughout the season, could find its road to the finals to be the most daunting.

At 51-23-7, the Rangers have a league-best 109 points and they are led by winger Marian Gaborik, whose 41 goals are third-best in the NHL. Though they've lost two of their last three games, they have been in first place in the Atlantic Division since December and have only lost more than two straight regulation matchups once.

Goaltender Henrik Lundqvist enters the regular-season finale with a 1.93 goals-against average—tied for second-best in the league—and a .931 save percentage, third-best in the league.

This team is built for a long championship run and yet the odds are that it won't make it to the finals. With Washington as their potential opponent, New York might not even make it out of the first round.

If the Rangers win against the Capitals on Saturday, they will solidify a first-round matchup against Washington. With a win, the Capitals could win their division and earn a three seed. Despite injuries to goaltenders Tomas Vokoun and Michal Neuvirth, Washington's explosive offensive duo of Alex Ovechkin, who averages 1.35 points per playoff game, and Alexander Semin, who has registered 21 goals, 32 assists and 53 points during a down year, is not a pair you want to face en route to the Stanley Cup.

The Rangers will either enter the postseason on the heels of a two-game losing streak, or they'll face one of the best low seeds in the playoffs.

Either way, the playoffs will be no easy ride for top-seeded New York.