Ryan McDonagh faces biggest test in playoffs
Ryan McDonagh of the New York Rangers skates against the Toronto Maple Leafs. (Dec. 5, 2011) Credit: Jim McIsaac
GREENBURGH, N.Y. -- Ryan McDonagh's first full NHL season has been one challenge after another. Paired with Dan Girardi, McDonagh has been matched against just about every opponent's top line. Judging by the Rangers' Eastern Conference-leading 109 points and McDonagh's healthy plus-25 rating, he met his challenges so far.
Now comes a new one: Matching against an opponent's best line for a playoff series. For McDonagh and Girardi, that will mean seeing Jason Spezza, the Sens' big, talented center, on every shift that John Tortorella can get his top defense pair out on the ice.
"It's just stride by stride, shift by shift, the way we've been all year," McDonagh said after practice Tuesday. "There'll be plenty of matchups, it'll be a chess match for sure. We're comfortable with whoever we have out there. Our guys are all aware, especially when the big guns are on the ice."
And Spezza is the biggest gun the Senators have. Ottawa won three of four games against the Rangers this season as Spezza totaled four goals and two assists in the role of playmaker.
"You think you've got good gap on him, and he'll chip the puck past you and use his speed," McDonagh said. "If you don't have good gap, he'll pull up quickly and make a play."
The Rangers needed a shutdown tandem in last season's playoffs against Alex Ovechkin and the Caps. Marc Staal wasn't 100 percent returning from a concussion, though, and the Rangers were not the consistent team they are now. Ovechkin had three goals and three assists in the five-game Rangers series loss, Alexander Semin scored a pair of overtime winners and the stars made the difference.
The Rangers are certainly a grittier team this time around and more confident in their ability to grind out wins. But the postseason can be a different animal when it comes to the competitive level of a star.
McDonagh wasn't on the top pair last postseason, but he did play plenty in those five games and he knows how consistent effort can make the difference.
"I learned one shift, one play can change a whole game and a whole series," he said. "You have to be mentally sharp every second, especially when you're out there against the best players in the league."
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