In order for the New York Rangers to advance to the Eastern Conference finals for the second time in three years, the club is going to have to do something its never done before: beat the Pittsburgh Penguins in the playoffs. The Rangers hope to strike first in this fifth postseason meeting between the franchises, as they visit Pittsburgh for Fridays Game 1 battle at CONSOL Energy Center. The Penguins are 4-0 all-time in postseason series against the Blueshirts and boast a 16-4 record over those four playoff encounters. The only time New York was able to post more than one win in a series against the Pens was in the 1992 Division Finals, when Pittsburgh downed the Rangers in six games en route to its second straight Stanley Cup title. The most recent playoff encounter was in the 2008 conference semifinals when Pittsburgh ousted the Rangers in five games. New York, which made the conference finals in 2012, is in the second round for the third straight season after beating Philadelphia in seven games in the opening round. Home-ice advantage came in handy for the Blueshirts, as they claimed a 2-1 win at Madison Square Garden in the final test against the Flyers, improving to 6-0 all-time in Game 7s on home ice. In this round, however, the Rangers will have to prove they can win on the road against the Metropolitan Division champion Penguins. "Were battle-tested and ready for the next series," said Rangers head coach Alain Vigneault. "Philly was a real tough opponent, and you have to give them credit, it was a great series, but we know if you look on paper Pittsburgh is probably one of the best teams in the league. They were (13) points ahead of us in the regular season, so were going to have our hands full." The Pens and Rangers split four meetings during the 2013-14 campaign, with both teams recording 2-1-1 records. New York had lost five straight in Pittsburgh before ending that road slide with a 4-3 shootout win on Feb. 7. Game 2 is scheduled for Sunday in the Steel City, while New York gets to host the third meeting on Monday. Fatigue could be an issue for the Rangers at the start of this series, as New York will have played five games in a span of seven days through Game 3 of this set. The Pens, on the other hand, had three full days of rest heading into Game 1. Pittsburgh is in the second round after beating Columbus in six games during the conference quarterfinals. The Pens are after a second straight trip to the East finals after getting swept by Boston in the penultimate playoff round last spring. A big topic of conversation in the middle of the first round was Pittsburgh captain Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkins lack of goal-scoring. But, after Malkin turned in a hat trick to help Pittsburgh clinch the series in Game 6, that likely puts an end to the discussion for now. Malkin ended with seven points on three goals and four assists. Crosby failed to score a goal in six games, but with six assists to his credit its difficult to say he was unproductive. Still, Crosby, the odds-on favorite to win this seasons Hart Trophy, hasnt recorded a goal in his last 11 playoff games and if he goes long without scoring one in this series it could become an issue once again. Crosby and Chris Kunitz led Pittsburgh with six points apiece during the season series with New York, with the captain notching a goal and five assists and Kunitz delivering three goals and three helpers. Malkin only played in two of the four meetings and had a goal and an assist. When things go wrong for Pittsburgh, nobody gets criticized more than No. 1 goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury. Last spring, Fleury was replaced by Tomas Vokoun as the clubs starting goaltender after Game 4 of the opening round against the New York Islanders and did not start another game in the playoffs. Fleury struggled at times during the conference quarterfinals against Columbus, but not enough for head coach Dan Bylsma to make the switch to current backup Jeff Zatkoff. For the most part, Fleury was solid against the Blue Jackets in Round 1. He ended the series with a .908 save percentage and 2.81 goals against average. The 29-year-old is 49-36 with a .903 save percentage and .273 GAA throughout his playoff career. The biggest advantage New York has over the Penguins could be in net, where Rangers backstop Henrik Lundqvist is as steady as they come. The 32-year-old Swede posted a .919 save percentage and 2.11 GAA in the seven games against Philadelphia Lundqvist is a big reason the Rangers are so difficult to beat in a long series. With its win over Philly, the Blueshirts became the first team in NHL history to win a Game 7 in the first round in three consecutive postseasons. In five career Game 7s, Lundqvist is 4-1 with a 1.00 GAA, a .963 save percentage and has allowed two goals or fewer in all five games. The Rangers threw a balanced scoring attack at Philadelphia, with eight players tied for the team lead with two goals apiece and 17 skaters in all registered at least one point. Martin St. Louis and Brad Richards, both members of Tampa Bays 2004 Stanley Cup-winning team, led the way with six points on two goals and four assists, while fellow forwards Carl Hagelin, Benoit Pouliot and Mats Zuccarello each had two goals and two assists. Even physical forward Daniel Carcillo joined the fun, as the ex-Flyer scored two goals against his former team, including the first marker in Wednesdays 2-1 Game 7 victory. If there is one guy who needs to get going for New York its the clubs top offensive weapon Rick Nash. The big, talented winger led the team with 26 goals during the regular season, but he failed to score against the Flyers while notching four assists. Over 23 career playoff games, Nash only has managed two goals while recording 10 assists. Zuccarello posted two goals and four assists to lead the Rangers in scoring against the Pens during the season series. Both Fleury and Lundqvist started all four games in net. Pittsburghs No. 1 netminder had a 3.12 GAA in the season series, while Lundqvist was slightly better with a 2.88 GAA. Buy Sneakers Online Cheap . Ribery, who won UEFAs best player in Europe award for the 2012-13 season, helped Bayern Munich win the Champions League and Bundesliga and German Cup titles. Messi, winner of the last four Ballon dOr awards in voting by coaches, team captains and media, was injured late in the season and could not prevent Barcelona from being beaten by Bayern in the Champions League semifinals. 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The 25-year-old Hawes is in his seventh NBA season.Among the many NFL records set in the 2014 season, most notable — and hardly surprising — was something done by Peyton Manning.The Denver quarterback easily surpassed Brett Favres mark of 508 touchdown passes and stands at 530. Manning, 38, has said he plans to keep playing.Manning and longtime rival Tom Brady also extended their lead for division titles by a quarterback. Brady led the Patriots to their 12th AFC East crown, and Manning won his 11th, his third with the Broncos, to stand 1-2.The Broncos tied San Franciscos mark of 12 straight road divisional victories, dating back to 2010.Other team achievements included four clubs averaging 400 yards on offence per game, a first: New Orleans, Pittsburgh, Indianapolis and Denver; Dallas becoming the sixth team to go 8-0 on the road; Carolina, despite its 7-8-1 record, becoming the first back-to-back winner of the NFC South; and two comeback marks.There were five rallies to victory from 21 or more points down, and there were 43 comebacks from a 10-point deficit to win. The latter tied the mark set the previous season.The league-wide completion rate (62.6 per cent), passer rating (88.9) and total touchdown passes (807) were at historic levels. So was the interception rate of 2.52 per cent, the lowest of any season in NFL history.An NFL-record nine quarterbacks had 30 or more touchdown passes: Andrew Luck (40), Peyton Manning (39), Aaron Rodgers (38), Tony Romo (34), Brady (33), Drew Brees (33), Ben Roethlisberger (32), Philip Rivers (31) and Eli Manning (30). Brees has passed for at least 30 touchdowns in seven consecutive seasons, extending his NFL-record streak.Roethlisberger became the first player in NFL history with six touchdown passes in consecutive games. Rodgers, with a 112.2 passer rating, is the only player to reach a 100-plus rating in six consecutive seasons.Luck has 12,957 yards passing, eclipsing Peyton Manning (12,287) for the most in a players first three seasons. Seattles Russell Wilson has 36 regular-season wins and 22 home victoriees, the most in the Super Bowl era in a quarterbacks first three seasons.dddddddddddd.The Patriots five consecutive seasons of first-round byes is the longest streak since the current playoff format began in 1990.NFL rushing leader DeMarco Murray of Dallas was the first player to rush for at least 100 yards in each of his teams first eight games. Pittsburghs LeVeon Bell had at least 200 yards from scrimmage in three straight games, joining Pro Football Hall of Famer Walter Payton (1977) as the only players to manage the feat.Four players gained at least 1,500 yards receiving: Antonio Brown, Demaryius Thomas, Julio Jones and Jordy Nelson. Thats tied for most in a season (1995).Detroits Calvin Johnson became the quickest to 10,000 yards receiving, 115 games.Three rookie wide receivers gained at least 1,000 yards through the air: Odell Beckham Jr., Mike Evans and Kelvin Benjamin. Thats an NFL mark.Beckham and Evans each had 12 touchdown receptions, the first time two rookie receivers have had at least 10 TD catches in the same season.Chicagos Matt Forte set a record for running backs with 102 receptions.Special teams certainly contributed to the accomplishments, with the league average of 23.8 yards per kickoff return tying a mark set in 2011.Atlantas Devin Hester has 20 return touchdowns in his career, surpassing Hall of Famer Deion Sanders for the most in NFL history.The Eagles scored 11 return touchdowns (three blocked punts, two kick returns, two punt returns, two interception returns and two fumble returns), with 10 players doing so. The 10 players is a record.Indianapolis kicker Adam Vinatieri, with 140 points this season, became the only player to score 100 or more points in 17 seasons. Philadelphia kicker Cody Parkey scored 150 points, setting the NFL record by a rookie.Houston DE J.J. Watt made 20 1-2 sacks, becoming the first player in NFL history with multiple