from Larry Brooks of the New York Post,

Remember, Rangers’ management was certain that a game-buster not only such as Nash, but Nash himself, was the missing ingredient in 2012, when the Blueshirts were limited to two goals or fewer in 13 of their 20 playoff matches before finally going down in six to New Jersey in the conference finals.

That was the impetus for the trade in July of 2012 in which the Rangers undertook an extreme makeover by sending Brandon Dubinsky (who has emerged as the dominant force in the Blue Jackets’ first-round series against Pittsburgh), Artem Anisimov;,Tim Erixon and a first-round draft pick to Columbus for Nash.

The Rangers already had a sniper in Marian Gaborik, that’s true, but the prevailing opinion was that Gaborik lacked the right stuff to score in the playoffs. Before he was sent away to the Blue Jackets at the 2013 trade deadline for Derick Brassard, Derek Dorsett and John Moore as New York restocked the shelves they had emptied for Nash, Gaborik scored six goals in 25 playoff games for the Rangers.

Since coming to New York, Nash has scored one goal in 16 playoff games, getting that one in last year’s Game 2 defeat in Boston.

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