Ah, the ever exciting post season war of words. Does Sidney Crosby get the benefit of the doubt most of the time? Absolutely. Did the Penguins win game one because of that? Maybe. Are the Rangers still down 1-0 in the series, no matter what everyone says? Yup.

In a couple of hours, game two kicks off. The Rangers will be down 1-0 in the series when that puck drops even if the Pope said that Crosby gets preferential treatment. I am in agreement with everything that has been said here and from most people in the Ranger locker room. The NHL loves Sidney Crosby. It works the exact same way for Sean Avery. Anything borderline, Avery will get the penalty. If it looks like Crosby gets knocked down with a stick or if he can’t get to the puck first, he’ll draw a penalty. The Rangers have to just avoid putting themselves in that position.

How to do that? Easy. Start by getting away from the Christian Backman vs Sidney Crosby matchup. A physical, shutdown defender should be on Crosby this afternoon. Fedor Tyutin or Dan Girardi should pepper him with hits whenever they are given the chance. Even Michal Rozsival showed that he could handle Sid the Kid in the regular season. Backman has been much better than I had expected, and given him credit for, but he and Paul Mara have both looked silly when up against the talented Crosby.

Another thing the Rangers need to do more of is shooting the puck. Marc-Andre Fleury will be a good goaltender in this league. Right now, though, he is inconsistent and shaky. He gives up juicy rebounds 75% of the time. If the Rangers can get 30-35 shots on goal, a good five or six will find their way to the twine.

Other than that, look for a good game. The Rangers were far from their best on Friday night and it still looked like they would pull out a win. If they raise their play back to the level it was when they were playing the Devils, they should have no problem leaving Pittsburgh with a win.

One lineup change this afternoon for the Blueshirts. Petr Prucha looks like he’ll be re-inserted into the lineup on the fourth line with Blair Betts and Fred Sjorstom. Tom Renney said he liked what he saw from Prucha in the regular season against the Pens, and gave him time on that line in practice.

The series goes back to MSG after today’s game, so a win today would be phenomenal. The Rangers swept the Penguins in MSG this regular season, so home ice advantage would be key over games three and four. Enjoy today’s game.