Caggiano Vs. Kuzmiak: A Battle Of Their Favorite Teams

Just this morning I received an email from the Penguins' Community Leader Eric Kuzmiak offering me a challenge of sorts, called "Creature vs. Creature" which is something that you will be seeing often in the future here on Bleacher Report. As Community Leader for the New York Rangers' section, I had to face this challenge which is the reason I am publishing this now. Our articles will eventually be linked to one another once they are both done.

Build Up

The last time the Rangers and Penguins met was in the Eastern Conference semi-finals last season, with the Penguins victorious in five games. Despite a stellar performance by then team captain Jaromir Jagr, the Rangers couldn't over come the high flying Pittsburgh offense. Games between these two teams have always been close, especially since the lockout, and that leads me to believe that the games this season will be too.

The one difference between these two teams is a huge one. The Penguins virtually stayed the same, only lost Marian Hossa in free agency and Gonchar and Whitney later on due to injuries, while the Rangers have been completely revamped. No longer is their a superstar like Jagr for teams to key on. The Rangers can now just roll three decent lines of scoring, and fast ones at that to charge onward against their opponents, which is why I give the Rangers an ever so slight edge in the season series versus the Penguins this year.

New York Will Win If...

The Rangers got off to their second best start in franchise history this season and sit atop the National Hockey League with a 6-2-1 record. The reason why the Rangers won that amount of games hasn't been because of a stellar offense but because of an aggressive forecheck, a solid defense and goaltending.

Even though Pittsburgh's defense has been depleted, their offense is still very powerful. For that reason, the Rangers will win if they can stay aggressive on the forecheck and keep the puck in the offensive zone and cut down on shots against. The Rangers will be playing the Penguins on the second day of back to back night games so they may be a little tired, but hopefully home ice will work to their advantage.

Pittsburgh Will Win If...

They score three or more goals. (I'm not even kidding.)

X-Factor

For the Rangers, the one player that will matter the most, other then the obvious choice in Lundqvist, is Aaron Voros. He leads the team in goals and has done an excellent job of doing the gritty work in front of the net. If the Rangers are to generate any offense, they will have to be taking shots and plenty of them with this guy standing in front of the net. Anyone else excited to see him and Orpik go at it?

The Penguins X-factor can be many people. Once again there's an obvious and that's Crosby, but the Rangers have been able to contain him over the years. The one player they can't stop is Evgeni Malkin. If they can stop him, they can halt this Penguins' offense and win the game.

Prediction

I thought about this long and hard, planning on picking the Rangers to lose just so the reverse jinx would work and they would win. But I am going to stand by my team and say that the Rangers will win on Saturday night by a score of 4-2. Goals will come by Redden, Drury (2), and Voros and Lundqvist will make 32 saves en route to his fifth victory of the season.

Well I had fun with this "Creature vs. Creature" challenge and I'm sure Eric did too. Hopefully as the season series continues you will see more of these not only from us, but from other dedicated Bleacher Creatures as well!

Read Eric Kuzmiak's Creature vs. Creature Article