Pregame Notes: Washington Capitals at. New York Rangers Game 1

 The Caps are at MSG to kick off their second round series against the Rangers. The Rangers won the President's Tropy with 113 points during the regular season. Here is the lineup for Game 1.

Forwards:

Ovechkin-Backstrom-Ward

Johansson-Kuznetsov-Chimera

Burakovsky-Beagle-Brouwer

Glencross-Laich-Wilson

Defense and Goalies:

Orpik-Carlson

Alzner-Niskanen

Gleason-Green 

Holtby 

Peters

Other Notes: 

*The Caps reassigned goalie Philip Grubauer to Hershey. Grubauer started and won Game 2 against the Islanders. Justin Peters will back up Holtby.

*First key for tonight will be trying to limit the speed the Rangers have. So, in my opinion the Caps can do that by clogging up the neutral zone as much as possible.

*Another key will be to see traffic in front of Henrik Lundqvist. The Caps need to score dirty goals to have a chance. 

*Eric Fehr is on the trip but doesn't look likely to play the first two in New York.

*Braden Holtby had a strong series in Round 1 but will need to be even stronger to have a chance to beat the Rangers.

*It's important that the Caps score first in this game. Getting a lead will give them confidence that they can play with the Rangers and will quiet MSG.

*The Hershey Bears lost Game 3 of their first round series to Worcester 4-1, the Bears still hold a 2-1 series lead in the best of five series. They can clinch at home tomorrow with a win in Game 4.

*Overall this game can be a game that spring boards the Caps. The Rangers are the favorites, but the Caps I think have a chance if they play the proper way. Let's see if they can steal home ice.

Gametime 7:30 p.m on NBCSN