Keith Yandle said his first Garden playoff game was “amazing” and “even more than I expected.” He wasn’t that bad himself.
The defenseman, acquired from Phoenix on March 2, played a key role in the Rangers’ 2-1 win over Pittsburgh in Game 1 of their best-of-seven series Thursday night, helping the Blueshirts do something they found nearly impossible to accomplish last spring: score a power-play goal.
In case you forgot, the Rangers were a meager 13-for-103 (13%) with the man advantage last spring, including an embarrassing 3-for-47 clip at the Garden. They went 0-for-their-first-15 against the Pens in the second round of the playoffs last year, falling into a 3-1 hole they needed a miracle to climb out of.