Everything about the Rangers’ first-round series against the Penguins seemed easy. Despite winning all four games by a score of 2-1 with two of them going to overtime, it never felt like the Rangers were going to lose momentum or control of the series against the Penguins, even after their only loss of the series. Things aren’t going to be so easy in the second round for the Rangers against the Capitals.

Adam Herman of Blueshirt Banter joined me to talk about the Rangers’ easy first round, the reaction to small sample sizes in the playoffs, the way to stop Alex Ovechkin and the Capitals’ power play and the confidence level of Rangers fans against the Capitals.

When the Rangers play the Capitals in Game 1 on Thursday night at MSG, it will have been six days since the Rangers eliminated the Penguins in Game 5 of the first round. A six-day layoff is always nice to have at this time of the year and with the Capitals having played two more games and needing to travel, Games 1 and 2 of the upcoming series seem to heavily favor the Rangers.

WFAN Mike’s On: Francesa on the FAN producer Brian Monzo joined me to talk about the Rangers’ first-round series win over the Penguins, Rick Nash’s postseason performance, the level of confidence against the Capitals, the end of the Best Team in New York’s season and predictions for the second round.