Lost in the glare of the Blackhawks winning the Stanley Cup is what the Rangers did last season. New York had the best plus differential in the league at plus 61. The Rangers came within one game of reaching the Stanley Cup losing to Tampa Bay in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals.

The Rangers are in far less transition than Chicago. The Blackhawks lost Brandon Saad, Patrick Sharp and Brad Richards among others due to salary cap restraints.

New York has defeated Chicago in three of the last four meetings and are in a good spot here. Yes, the game is in Chicago. But much of the attention in the Windy City is going to be on the Cubs, who are playing the Pirates in the playoffs.

The Blackhawks also have to deal with the distraction of this being banner celebration opening night. The Rangers can't help but get fired up seeing this since record-wise they were the better team.