The Rangers will open a series as the higher seed against the Pittsburgh Penguins Thursday night at the Garden for just the second time in their six all-time playoff meetings.
The only other time it happened was in 1992, when the Blueshirts won their franchise’s first-ever Presidents’ Trophy but fell in six games in the second round to the eventual repeat Stanley Cup champion Penguins.
This year’s Rangers, who captured the organization’s third Presidents’ Trophy, would prefer to repeat the history of the 1994 club that won both the regular season and the postseason tournament, as well.