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Youthful Penguins ready for experienced Rangers

Apr 25, 2008 - 12:54 PM Ny Rangers at Pittsburgh 7:00 pm EDT Eastern Conference semifinals

PITTSBURGH (Ticker) - Despite very little playoff experience, the Pittsburgh Penguins cruised through the Eastern Conference quarterfinals.

The second-seeded Penguins look to continue their strong play in the postseason when they host the fifth-seeded New York Rangers in Game One of the conference semifinals on Friday.

Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and the rest of the young Pittsburgh squad proved to be quick learners, sweeping the seventh-seeded Ottawa Senators in the quarters.

Crosby was the team's leading scorer with eight points in the opening round, while Malkin added seven. Pittsburgh native Ryan Malone and All-Star Marian Hossa each notched five points and former Ranger Petr Sykora netted three goals in the series.

While most of the focus was on the Penguins' offense, Marc-Andre Fleury was exceptional in net vs. the Senators, allowing just five goals in the four-game series sweep, posting one shutout, a 1.26 GAA and a .955 save percentage.

The Penguins also enter the series rested after wrapping up the first round on April 16.

"We say in this locker room that rest is a weapon, so we'd rather rest up," Malone said. "In the long run, I think that's better for us."

The Rangers will rely heavily on their wealth of playoff experience to gain an edge on the talented Penguins.

Leading the way for New York is the trio of captain Jaromir Jagr, Brendan Shanahan and Scott Gomez , who collectively have seven Stanley Cup rings.

Jagr and Gomez stepped up in the Rangers' conference quarterfinal victory over the New Jersey Devils, combining to record five goals and 10 assists in the five-game series.

The Rangers won five of eight regular season meetings with the Penguins but Jagr knows that none of that matters in the playoffs.

"If you want to go all the way, you will have to face (the Penguins) anyway," he said. "You never know, we beat them, they beat us - it's playoffs. It's going to come to the conditioning, how the guys are going to be in Game Five, Six, Seven."