The New York Rangers have their stranglehold.
Now they need to find a way to avoid choking.
It’s not that people should doubt the talent or depth on the roster of the defending Eastern Conference champion. But the way they sputtered through three-plus periods of hockey in Pittsburgh Wednesday night in an eventual 2-1 overtime win against the Penguins, this whole winning ugly thing doesn’t bode well for the bright future most predicted for the Rangers.
They are the Presidents’ Trophy winners. The regular season’s most dominant club. They finished with 53 wins—49 of them in regulation.