“That’s the beauty of the [Stanley Cup] playoffs,” said Caps forward Eric Fehr. “If you’re a team that just sneaks into the playoffs you’re equal now with all the teams that are winning their conferences and divisions. That’s why we play hockey. Anybody can win now.”

The Caps are making their second consecutive postseason appearance. Last year’s first-round loss was deemed good enough by many fans and media members — especially considering how Washington pulled it off. Pushing the Philadelphia Flyers to overtime of Game 7 — and winning a road elimination game in Philadelphia the night before — didn’t hurt, either.

“Our goal has always been to win the Cup,” said Caps coach Bruce Boudreau. “The people who said last season was a successful season were the media. We didn’t say it because we didn’t fulfill our goal. We thought we should have beat Philadelphia, and we didn’t. All people with character want to win the Cup when they have the opportunity.”

That large step toward the 16 wins needed for a Stanley Cup starts with the four needed vs. New York, a changed team since the Caps last saw the Rangers in February. They have a new coach in John Tortorella and new players in forwards Sean Avery and Nik Antropov and defenseman Derek Morris. Washington was 3-0-1 against New York in the four meetings before Tortorella and those players arrived.

“If you look at those games they were all tight — overtime, a shootout loss, a 2-1 win, a 3-1 [win]” said Caps goalie Jose Theodore, whose No. 6 seeded Colorado Avalanche upset No. 3 seeded Minnesota in the first-round last season despite winning just three of seven meetings with the Wild in the regular season. “I have enough experience knowing playoffs is a different series.”