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 also will assist fans with three must-watch elements of the game.

The Washington Capitals are closing in on a berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs and perhaps first place in the Metropolitan Division for the third straight season. The New York Rangers will try to make that task a little harder.
The Capitals are five points ahead of the Pittsburgh Penguins atop the crowded division. The Rangers, who were eliminated from playoff contention Tuesday and will miss the postseason for the first time since 2009-10, would love to derail their longtime rival's hopes.
It should be entertaining when the Rangers (33-35-8) visit the Capitals (45-24-7) at Capital One Arena on Wednesday (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, NHL.TV). Here's my breakdown of the game:

Rangers

Pluses:The young kids are getting a chance to showcase their talents. Forwards Filip Chytil, 18, and Lias Andersson, 19, each earned their first NHL point in a 4-2 loss to the Capitals on Monday. Chytil had an assist and Andersson scored a goal. Rookie defenseman Neal Pionk has 14 points (goal, 13 assists) in 22 games and had his seven-game point streak end Monday. Goalie Alexander Georgiev, who allowed three goals on six shots and was pulled after 8:54 on Monday, was sent to Hartford of the American Hockey League, but the 22-year-old looks like he has a bright future. Georgiev is 4-4-1 with a 3.15 goals-against average and .918 save percentage in 10 games (nine starts).
Ryan Spooner, who was acquired from the Boston Bruins in the Rick Nash trade on Feb. 25, has 14 points (two goals, 12 assists) in 14 games with New York. He's been able to play in a variety of roles, and can play each forward position and up and down the lineup. That flexibility will be beneficial next season if the Rangers are able to come to terms with the pending restricted free agent.
Mats Zuccarello, Mika Zibanejad and Jimmy Vesey have all stepped up this season for the Rangers. Zuccarello, Mika Zibanejad are signed beyond this season. Vesey could become a restricted free agent July 1.

Minuses: It all starts with the inconsistency throughout the entire lineup. The defense has been a work in progress, the offense has been missing at times and even the goaltending has been suspect throughout the season. The Rangers haven't played as fast or the same style we're used to seeing from them, which is perhaps why they took a step back this season.
The inconsistency led to the Rangers putting out a letter to fans this season that they were entering a rebuilding mode. Veterans Ryan McDonagh, J.T. Miller and Nash were traded, and goalie Henrik Lundqvist was given some games off to get Georgiev work. We've already talked about the young players and that's the truest sign of a rebuild, so New York can see what it has going forward.
Lastly, it's clearly a minus that the Rangers won't be in the playoffs this season. They had made it in the previous seven seasons and were a perennial Stanley Cup contender. They made the Eastern Conference Final three times in four years from 2012-15, so this is unchartered territory for them.

Capitals

Pluses: How can you not start with the NHL leader in goals, Alex Ovechkin? With five more this season, he'll reach 50 for the eighth time in his NHL career. He just continues to dazzle as the years go by.
Ovechkin is one reason the Capitals are first in the division after some thought they'd take a step back when they lost forward Justin Williams, and defensemen Kevin Shattenkirk, Karl Alzner and Nate Schmidt, in the offseason. All they've done is open up a five-point lead on the Penguins.
Philipp Grubauer has filled in nicely for Braden Holtby, the No. 1 and Vezina Trophy winner in 2015-16. Holtby has struggled and started four of 12 games this month with Grubauer starting eight. The backup is 6-2-0 with a 2.11 GAA, .928 save percentage and two shutouts in that stretch, and 14-9-3 with a 2.34 GAA and .923 save percentage this season. Holtby has 31 wins but also an uncharacteristically high 3.03 GAA.

Minuses:I talked about the losses of Alzner and Schmidt, and that shouldn't go unnoticed. Washington has had to rely on young players like rookie Christian Djoos, Jakub Jerabek and Michal Kempny, and it's been a work in progress. Having veterans Brooks Orpik, Dmitry Orlov, Matt Niskanen and John Carlson helps, but the Capitals are one injury away from being in trouble on the back end.
The Capitals don't have much firepower behind Ovechkin, Evgeny Kuznetsov (75 points; 24 goals, 51 assists), Carlson (64 points; 15 goals, 49 assists) and Nicklas Backstrom (63 points; 19 goals, 44 assists), although T.J. Oshie has rebounded with five goals in his past eight games for 17 this season after scoring an NHL career-high 33 last season. It would be beneficial to them if they got some secondary scoring before the playoffs.
After winning the Presidents' Trophy in each of the past two seasons and losing in the Eastern Conference Second Round each time, all that matters is the playoffs and how they fare. Whether the Capitals qualify for the playoffs as a division winner or a wild-card team, they will be judged by how far they go in the postseason.

THREE THINGS TO WATCH

1. The young kids of the Rangers, who are gaining valuable NHL experience
   2. Can the Capitals avoid making this a trap game?
   3. Will the Rangers' success in the second and third periods against Washington on Monday carry over?