NEW YORK -- Historically, the team that wins Game 1 of a series in the Stanley Cup playoffs has gone on to win the series more often than not.
Teams that open a playoff series with a win have gone on to win the series 68.6 percent of the time in league history.
When it's the home team that wins the opening game, that number rises to a 75.1 percent success rate in advancing to the second round. When the away team wins Game 1, they drop the home team's chances of moving on down to 42.4 percent.
The importance of winning Game 1, especially for the lower seed opening the series on the road, can't be understated.
But beyond that historical significance, winning Game 1 is also crucial for just setting the tone of the series, as Sidney Crosby has learned from experience.
"Statistics say it's pretty important," Crosby said after the Penguins' morning skate on Tuesday at Madison Square Garden. "But I think you always just want to get off to a good start. Regardless of the series or the opponent, I think you want to feel good about your game and get that first win. That's how you look at it."
The Penguins did win the first game of the regular-season series between the two teams, a narrow 1-0 victory at home back on Feb. 26. They went onto lose the next three meetings between the two teams, getting outscored by a combined 11-3 margin over those three games. Brian Boyle scored the Penguins' lone even strength goal.
Crosby said that he learned from the regular-season series that the two teams play a "pretty similar" style. Both teams are fast, both teams have defensemen that get involved in the game offensively.
The Penguins know where they went wrong in those last three games and what it will take to get the result in this series. They need to limit their turnovers and stymie the Rangers' ability to get opportunities off of the rush. They need to shut down the Rangers' effective power play, one that ranked No. 4 in the league in the regular season, and the best way to do that is just by staying out of the penalty box.
"It just comes down to execution," Crosby said. "At this point, I don't think you have to reinvent the wheel. We believe in our game, I'm sure they believe in theirs. I think if you're looking at a game as far as how we want to play, looking at that (first win) is probably a good example."
MORE FROM THE SKATE
• Jason Zucker skated with skills coach Ty Hennes prior to the skate, then rejoined the team for the optional skate. He was wearing a normal jersey, but Mike Sullivan told me afterward that Zucker still hasn't been cleared for contact.
"He's on the ice skating," Sullivan said. "He's going through the process. He has not been cleared for contact yet."
Initially, Sullivan said that he'd expect both Zucker and Tristan Jarry to miss the first "couple games" of the series. When Zucker skated on his own on Monday, Sullivan said that it was possible that Zucker's timeline could be "accelerated" as a result.
On Tuesday, Sullivan was asked if Zucker is definitely out for these first two games of the series, and he left open the possibility that Zucker could come back as early as Game 2.
"I wouldn't say that," Sullivan said. "He's out for tonight."
• It was an optional skate. Participants were Casey DeSmith, Louis Domingue, Nathan Beaulieu, Mark Friedman, Marcus Pettersson, Chad Ruhwedel, Evgeni Malkin, Drew O’Connor and Zucker.
• Sullivan said that he expects this core group of players to have some added motivation after the way the past couple of years ended for them, but they're also looking at this year as a clean slate.
"This is a proud group," Sullivan said. "I will tell you that. As far as the past experiences, I think every year the playoffs take on their own story. There are different reasons over the years for some of the successes and some of the disappointments that we've had. I'd like to believe that we're a forward thinking group. We're not going to hold onto the past. We've already had discussions about those experiences and how we can grow and get better as people and as a team. But right now, we're looking at the challenge right in front of us, and we're excited about the opportunity. We also understand how difficult the challenge is. I think our guys are really excited about it."
• Sullivan said that DeSmith is a "confident kid" heading into the playoffs.
"I think he has belief in his own game," Sullivan said. "He has a quiet confidence about him. And I think when you look at how his game has trended over the second half of the season, and most recently within the last three or four weeks, he has good reason to be confident. He's played very well for us. He's made timely saves. He's put our team in positions to win hockey games, and he's very capable of that. Our coaching staff, our players, we all have the utmost confidence in him, but I think Casey himself has a quiet confidence about his overall game. He knows what he's capable of."
• The Rangers didn't hold a morning skate.