Here’s the full schedule:

Game 1: Friday 4/25 at the Igloo 7 p.m.

Game 2: Sunday 4/27 at the Igloo 2 p.m. Game on NBC

Game 3: Tuesday 4/29 at the Garden 7 p.m.

Game 4: Thursday 5/1 at the Garden 7 p.m.

Game 5*: Sunday 5/4 at the Igloo 2 p.m. Game on NBC

Game 6*: Monday 5/5 at the Garden 7 p.m.

Game 7 *: Wednesday 5/7 at the Igloo TBD

*if necessary

The Rangers went 5-3 this year against the Pens. 4-0 at the Garden and 1-3 in Pittsburgh. Two of the Ranger wins were in overtime, including the one win in Pittsburgh and Marc Andre Fleury went 3-2 against the Blueshirts.

They will have to face the star power of Crosby, Malkin and Hossa. and it will be interesting to see if Tom Renney dresses Colton Orr for this matchup, since the fourth line of Betts, Hollweg and Orr did a great job against Crosby this season.

Should be a fun matchup.

I won’t be around for the first few games – getting married this weekend, but I will be watching from afar and checking in from the blackberry or on my laptop. Full reports from here and NYSD return next week.

That said, the Rangers now face the tricky situation where they will have to stay sharp without knowing who they will play. Last year, we saw that become a problem. After sweeping the Thrashers, the Blueshirts had to wait a week until Round 2 started. They came out flat in Game 1 against the Sabres and then lost the second match.

I asked Jromir Jagr about that after the game on Friday to which he said the team will need to practice like its playing in a game. 

Round 2 is expected to start either Thursday or Friday, so it will be a long layoff for the team.

***  

Too much is being made from the Marty Brodeur snub of Sean Avery. Sure, Avery is a bit annoyed and called Brodeur “Fatso” during his post game interview on the MSG Network.

But to make it out to be some sort of crime is like making Avery’s face guarding play into some sort of international crime.

Bottom line here is this: 77 games is just too much for Brodeur to play in a season and needs to play about 60 at 36 years old. He has burned out in the playoffs the past three seasons and Lou Lamoriello needs to sit down and talk to his goaltender in the offseason.

And if the Devils keep insisting on playing Brodeur so many games, then why keep a veteran like Kevin Weekes in the roster. They would be better served with a goalie from the ‘A’ who can fill in for five games.

For the next round, the Blueshirts will get three possible opponents depending on what happens in the two remianing series in the Eastern Conference.

The most likely opponent is the Pittsburgh Penguins, who the Rangers went 5-3 this season. They were 4-0 on Garden Ice and 1-3 in the Igloo, so if the trend continues they will win it in seven games. Now the trick with the pens is to do to Marc0-Andre Fleury, what the Blueshirts did to Marty Brodeur. If that can crash the net and get him off the game, they can steal a game in Pittsburgh and then continue Penguin mastery at the Garden.

For the series, Tom Renney may put Colton Orr back in the lineup, because the fourth line of Blair Betts, Ryan Hollweg and Orr, did a great job at shutting down Sidney Crosby during the year, while relying upon the Ranger big guns to come through with less ice time.

Also watch if Jaromir Jagr melt unter the Scott Gomez treatment in Pittsburgh.

Now if the Caps come back and Montreal wins, the Rangers will visit the Bell Centre for game 1. The Blueshirts were 3-0-1 against the Habs, who are relying upon Carey price. As we saw in Game 5, Price can get rattled by little mistakes as the Bruins were able to keep the series alive. In this possible series the Ranger penalty kill needs to shut down the Hab pwer play and also stay out of the box, because the Habs offense is centered around taking advantage of other teams mistakes.

They also will be visiting a hostile Bell Centre, unlike the cushy Prudential Center they got in the first round.

If Boston and Philly win, they the Blueshirts will open at the Garden against the Flyers. They were 5-1-2, but Stephen Valiquette took three of thoise wins. Don’t expect Vali to replace the King in the beginning, but coach Tom Renney may use his backup in this series to change things up. Valiquette has a 1.04 gaa against the Flyers.

On offense, the Rangers need to solve Martin Biron and doing the same things to him as they did to Brodeur should do the trick.

They can also play the Capitals if the Caps and Briuns win their respective series. Again, they will have to deal with Cristobol Huet, who was great in the regular season, but struggled against the Flyers who ran him. However this matchup seems unlikely due to the nature of their round 1 matchup.    

Changing things up, Brent Sutter put the Madden line out against Chris Drury, since No. 23 killed New Jersey on Wednesday. Otherwise, we saw something similar as Game 1. Good scating, good defense and a tremendous defensive matchup.

Now if the Rangers cane come through in the second, remains to be seen. But in seven minutes we will find out.

Tonight the Rangers will look to continue to take advantage of mistakes, nut must forecheck the puck into the Devils zone more. New Jersey will try to take advantage of the young New York defense, while keeping with the gameplan that worked in Game 1, but couldn’t score against Henrik Lundqvist.

The Devils may play more desperate tonight because a 2-0 Ranger lead going into the Garden probably spells certain doom for the merry band from New Jersey.  

And a mea culpa: It was Brendan Shanahan who assisted on Nigel Dawes empty netter rather then Chris Drury. That’s what happens when you see it on the way to the elevator. Thanks to my friend in life and hockey, Patrick Hoffman, for pointing that out.

Game 1 – Wednesday 4/9 at 7 p.m in Newark

Game 2 – Friday 4/11 at 7 p.m in Newark

Game 3 – Sunday 4/13 at the Garden

Game 4 – Wednesday 4/16 at the Garden

Game 5 – Friday 4/18* at Newark

Game 6 – Sunday 4/20* at the Garden

Game 7 – Tuesday 4/22* at Newark

*if necessary

We will be firing up this blog full time come Wednesday and will be covering the Rangers in the playoffs for as long as the postseason lasts.

As a side note, I will be away at the end of the month to get married, but will have replacements on the beat during that time. [it will be at the beginning of the second round].

A good solid win by the Rangers, who proved once again they can keep up with the Sabres, shift to shift.

Now, I know the question everyone is wondering: Did Daniel Briere score with 13.4 seconds left?

Ok, I saw the call could go either way, meaning if the it was called a goal on the ice, then it would have stood, but it wasn’t so it was waved off.

It’s nice to see the Rangers catch a break here. Too many calls were going against them all series, so it was good to see one go to the Garden side.

How about that Garden? The crowd was into it as usual. And my friend John Amirante fired up the faithful, the way only he can.

Now they have to win one in Buffalo. Brendan Shanahan had these thoughts. “It is not a while new series. You always take little bits and pieces of previous games but certainly now it’s two out of three with two of those three games in their building. We have to win one on the road to be successful.”

That’s the question. Can they win in Buffalo? Most people were wonder if they could win period, and with that out of the way anything is possible.

That being said, the Rangers will need to play almost perfect on Friday to make it 3-2 and if they do, Game 6 will close it out at the Garden, where they won nine straight and 12 out of 13.

But can they do it?

Other thoughts as I pack and finish up my article on Mike Nylander for the Blueshirt Bulletin. Should be a good series and look for a series preview on NYSD tomorrow.

Also if you have a chance and 25 bucks burning in your pocket, why don’t you subscribe to NYS and get 12 issues? With everything else so high, this is something pretty cheap.

Visit the subscribe page for more.

Game 1: Wednesday 4/25 at Buffalo 7 p.m.
Game 2: Friday 4/27 at Buffalo 7 p.m.
Game 3: Sunday 4/29 at MSG 2 p.m.
Game 4: Tuesday 5/1 at MSG 7 p.m.
Game 5: Friday 5/4 at Buffalo 7 p.m.
Game 6: Sunday 5/6 at MSG 2 p.m.
Game 7: Tuesday 5/8 at Buffalo 7 p.m. 

Makes sense, since both teams were off for the longest periods. I don’t know if I am going to be in Buffalo myself for the first two games – I have some obligations I may not be able to postpone on Friday, but will be there if the series goes long.

And for those who care, the Devils will open up thier series on Thursday at 7 and Game 2 will be Saturday at 8 p.m. due to a figure skating match in the afternoon.