As to the Rangers there’s definitely some wishful thinking on my part. But I have a hunch all the same. Washington has been in games they’ve had to win for the last two weeks. They’ve been winning low scoring ones (maybe they scored like 15 goals in winning their last 7 or 8?) and have a no name goalie who’s been playing unexpectedly well. They got the dregs of their old cup winning club - Carlson, Ovi, Wilson, Oshie . . . They are a heavy team. There’s a Laviolette nemesis factor as he faces his old club.
Eh, I don't see it with Washington. They're very slow, they lack skill. I'm not even sure if Carlson is or isn't good anymore. He's probably not bad.
Ovechkin is hot right now, but certainly not what he was.
Oshie is pretty close to a roasted marshmallow at this point.
The whole ''Heart of a champion'' or ''Winning factor'' doesn't mean much when the players that wre champions/winners are old and just not good anymore.
As far as Dallas goes, they could go either way, but they're a very old team. Outside of the obvious Washington and maybe the Islanders, I'm pretty sure they've gotta be the oldest team in these playoffs. Winnipeg probably isn't too young either. They're much better than those teams, but I could see them running out of gas before getting to the finish line. They had too many impact players in their 30s, though Robertson, Heiskanen, Johnston, Hintz and Oettinger are all pretty young to fairly young. Stankoven has been good since he came up.
They wouldn't be the biggest shocker to come out of the West either. I would be much more shocked if several other teams came out of the West over them, including Vegas. Though I wouldn't be shocked if Vegas upsets them in round one. If they get a competent Oettinger in round one they should be okay. Especially if Vegas are dumb enough to keep running Adin Jag Hill out there because of the cup last year.
