Weekes: Pluses, minuses for Rangers, Capitals

Each Wednesday throughout the regular season Kevin Weekes will be offering his pluses and minuses for the teams competing in the NBCSN Wednesday Night Rivalry game in his Weekes on the Web blog. Weekes will also be assisting fans with three must-watch elements of the game.

Surprise, surprise, the New York Rangers and Washington Capitals might be on a collision course for a matchup in the Eastern Conference First Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, so what we'll see in NBCSN's Wednesday Night Rivalry game could be a preview.

The Rangers and Capitals have met in the playoffs four out of the past six years, including three in a row from 2011-13.

WEDNESDAY NIGHT RIVALRY

Rangers face Caps, eye first in Metro

NHL.com
The New York Rangers trail the New York Islanders by one point for first place in the Metropolitan Division; they are three ahead of the Pittsburgh Penguins and seven in front of the Washington Capitals. READ MORE ›

• WNR: Five things to watch | Tale of the Tape
• Caps stop opponents by playing heavy game
• Talbot carrying the load in goal for Rangers
• X-Factors: Goal-scoring leaders Ovi, Nash
• Join the Twitter conversation: #RivalryNight

As it stands right now the Rangers would actually play the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first round while the Capitals would face the New York Islanders. The Eastern Conference standings, particularly in the Metropolitan Division, are so fluid that what we see now might be completely different from what we see at the end of the season.

I have to go off of what we're seeing now, so here is my breakdown of what could be a thriller at Verizon Center:

RANGERS

Pluses: You've just have to start in net. The pluses for the Rangers start with Cam Talbot. He deserves it. He's been that good.

The Rangers were outshot 13-7 in the first period against the Islanders on Tuesday, and all things being equal it could have been a very different game if not for Talbot. The Islanders had a lot of good chances.

As the game went along the Rangers got better, as we expected they would be, but still that breakaway chance for Josh Bailey, Talbot makes a huge save. He made a lot of saves through traffic coming down the stretch. The Rangers were outshot 30-22 for the game. They won 2-1.

If not for Talbot, that's a different game with a different outcome.

Quite honestly, when you look at not only his numbers, but the way he's playing and the confidence he has now, it's unbelievable. He's doing this in place of Henrik Lundqvist. He's doing this in New York, where everybody is accustomed to the King, where everybody wants Henrik, and where Henrik has been great for so long.

Some of the fans in New York haven't historically been accepting of the Rangers if Henrik isn't playing -- until now. The fact that he has played as well as he has and the fans have been as supportive as they have, I think it's been amazing.

On a different note, Talbot's play has put less pressure on Lundqvist to come back. He needs to be 100 percent healthy before he's ready. Talbot is letting him get there.

Simply put, Talbot is playing like a very good NHL goalie. He's real respectful of who Lundqvist is and he just wants to do the best job he can until he gets back, but at the same time he's looking at it as if he worked real hard for his opportunity and he wants to do the best he can and make the most of it. You have to give him a lot of credit, he's been amazing.

Minuses: I'll say the same thing, and you can cut and paste and repeat, my most consistent minus for the Rangers if there is one is there are times when they don't play fast. I don't understand why.

Look at the first period Tuesday as an example. Some of the players on the team were saying they knew they had to be ready and weather the storm because the Islanders were going to come out fast. Fine, but why should the Rangers have to weather the storm? Why can't they be the ones to set the pace?

You're not flying from New York to San Jose to play the Sharks. There's no jet lag. You didn't play the previous night, but the Islanders did, in Toronto, in a game that went to overtime.

Why would the Rangers have to weather the storm? The Rangers are the fastest team in the League, why not just come out and play that way? Make the Islanders have to weather the storm.

The one problem with the Rangers is sometimes it takes a while for them to get their legs. They start late sometimes. That's not good. They need to play fast all the time. Once they dial it in you see it, but they need to start on time and need to play that way all the time.

CAPITALS

Pluses: Going goaltending here as well. Hey, I'm a goalie, you had to see it coming, right?

Braden Holtby's improvement has been awesome this year. I think Capitals goalie coach Mitch Korn has done an outstanding, outstanding job with Holtby this season.

He's more controlled. He's athletic when he needs to be, but he's more controlled. He's making more whole-body saves, and it seems like he's getting from A to B earlier and getting set before he makes a save. That allows him to play more under control.

Beyond that with the Capitals, I just like the fact that they're physical, strong, and they play that way. They don't play undisciplined strong by running around and being dumb; they play smart and hard strong, and they do it for each other. That says a lot about the team atmosphere and togetherness.

Minuses: My only minus for the Capitals is when the heat gets turned up will they continue to play the same way with all these adjustments that they have made under Barry Trotz, or will they revert to their old ways? This isn't really a minus, more of a concern.

In fairness to this group they've had a lot of different coaches in a short amount of time, and maybe you can take some of the good things from all the coaches, but you need to have a consistent identity. It's time for some continuity. I think they have it now.

I really think the way they are playing now will give them the best chance for postseason success. The question is what are they going to do when the heat gets turned up? That remains to be seen.

THREE THINGS TO WATCH

1. Rangers pace vs. Capitals physicality

Two questions: Are the Rangers willing to pay the physical price in order to play their game? Will the Capitals do a good job defending against the Rangers' speed?

2. Ovechkin and Nash

Alex Ovechkin leads the NHL with 44 goals; Rick Nash is second with 39. Yeah, it goes without saying that you'll want to watch these two.

3. Goalie matchup between Talbot and Holtby

Even with Nash and Ovechkin on the ice, this could be a low-scoring game because of these two for all the reasons I mentioned above.