From 2012 through 2015, four consecutive springtimes in which the Rangers advanced through the first round of the playoffs, the Blueshirts went 2-0 against the Penguins and 3-0 against the Caps.
Yet here we sit with the Caps (last season) and the Penguins (the previous two years) as the last three Stanley Cup champions and the Rangers having just celebrated the 25th anniversary of their last Cup in 1994.
And with the Blueshirts playing out the final seven games of the season, the first of which came Monday at the Garden against Pittsburgh, having been officially eliminated from playoff contention on Saturday despite their 2-1 overtime victory in Toronto.