WE ARE IN - 2024 Edition

The New York Rangers are heading to the playoffs after missing two consecutive seasons.

Finally.

While New York is no stranger to making the postseason, it hasn't won a Stanley Cup in EHE. 
Last season ended in disappointment after missing the playoffs by a single point.

This season's team have had the starpower to advance further, as evidenced by franchise record breaking season.

The Players

Nikita Kucherov is a points machine after finishing second in the league with 113 points during the regular season.
Nikita Kucherov, Chris Kreider, Claue Giroux, Anze Kopitar and Mat Barzal all will enter play with more than 60 points on the regular season. Netminder duo of Igor Shesterkin and Sam Montembeault lead the league with fewest goals allowed with 204.

When the New York Rangers clinched a playoff berth on June 17, there wasn't a celebration. There was barely an acknowledgment of the feat in their dressing room after an overtime loss against the visiting Washington Capitals.

The accomplishment was procedural, a bridge to greater things.

"If you want to lift the Stanley Cup, you've got to get into the playoffs first," New York center Claude Giroux said. "We have bigger goals. That's Step 1 for us. All the focus is on Philly now, we just need to go in there and get the job done."

It’s a battle of two in the best of the East, vying for Metropolitan supremacy.

And it’s a rematch of the 2021 second-round series, now with two stronger contenders on either side.

The big question heading into Round 1 is whether Kucherov can bring his MVP-caliber play to the postseason. He has given the Rangers some real timely scoring, but there’s still room for improvement at powerplay. Only 19 points out of 113 came on the man advantage from the Russian playmaker. And it's something that the Rangers struggled all year - 27th ranked Powerplay.

The history between these teams and how they’ve improved over the last couple of years make for one of the best series narratives in the playoffs thus far. Philadelphia has an undeniable edge, but the Rangers have a handful of possible trump cards.

...The New York Rangers are going to work...

...This is the best time - This is playoff time...

GENERAL MANAGER / NEW YORK RANGERS

MARTIN AUZINS