It all starts tonight

I have been waiting on edge since Sunday for the playoffs to begin and tonight is the night. As much as I love all of the playoff hockey match ups there is really only one that I have much emotion caught up in at this point in time. Everyone who knows me knows that the series I will be watching is the Rangers vs. Caps series. After following a team for an 82 game season it is exilerating to say the least seeing them enter a best of seven series to determine if they will go on in their quest for the cup.
I see the key to this series being the play of Mark Stall. In the previous match ups against the Capitals it has been Stall who has had the job of containing the explosive Alex Ovechkin. Ovechkin is one of the best players in the league and Stall has played the role of agitator against Alex in the previous meetings. Stall has not let Ovechkin get many good angle shots and if the Rangers have any shot at winning this series this trend needs to continue.
One thing that the Rangers can't do is hope to contain Ovechkin and then forget about the rest of the Washington Capital team. They have the best offensive defense man in the league in Mike Green who can not be left alone at the point during a power play. The shots that he takes from the points are rockets that often catch screened goaltenders off guard. Semin is just as dangerous as Green and when left open has no problem taking an Ovechkin pass and turning it into a goal.
Where the Rangers have an advantage in this series is in the goal tending category. Theodore can be vulnerable at times and the Rangers need to pepper him with shots. When you have a goalie who gives up rebounds like Theodore does from time to time you also have to have players crashing the net to capitalize on these opportunities. Lundquvist has had some playoff experience over the past three seasons solidifying himself as one of the top goaltenders in the league. The Rangers just have to make sure that there are no spare Capitals creating traffic in front of the net through playing a physical game.
A factor in this series that can never be overlooked in this series is that of Sean Avery. Historicly Avery always has done a good job of getting under the skin of opponents causing them to take needless penalties and loose focus. I am not sure if there is a player Avery will be targeting in this series, like he has in the past. If he is his pesky self it will be huge for the Rangers chances of pulling off this upset.