Penguins challenge Rangers

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Jaromir Jagr was winning Stanley Cups in Pittsburgh when current Penguins star Sidney Crosby wasn’t Sid the Kid, but Sid the Infant. Brendan Shanahan won them when Evgeni Malkin was in a Russian grade school.

Scott Gomez has as many championship rings [two] as Penguins veterans Gary Roberts and Petr Sykora do in 34 seasons between them.

In an intriguing Eastern Conference semifinals playoff matchup that begins Friday night, it’s the Penguins’ stunning talent vs. the New York Rangers’ experience, guile and intangibles.

The Penguins possess the young stars, the Rangers the old ones. Each has a get-under-the-skin agitator capable of crossing the line that separates nasty from downright dirty. The teams know each other well from eight regular-season games, and they’ll likely get to know each other much, much better over the next two weeks.

“This is going to be a great seven-game series,” said Penguins defenseman Ryan Whitney, who seems certain it will take that long to decide a winner.

The Penguins are coming off a first-round sweep of Ottawa and, with the 20-year-old Crosby and the 21-year-old Malkin, might own the best center combination on a Stanley Cup challenger since the Oilers’ days with Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier.

They also might be the NHL’s best tandem since, well, Mario Lemieux and Jagr in Pittsburgh, with Crosby winning the scoring title last season and Malkin coming in second to Alex Ovechkin this season.

“It’s going to be a big challenge. You can’t take a break with this offense.... The guy [Crosby] is the best in the world,” Gomez said Thursday. “He is great for our league. Everyone talks about LeBron James, and we’ve got someone like that in our league.”