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Sutter calls McDonagh ‘the Rangers’ Doughty’

New York Rangers v Montreal Canadiens - Game One

MONTREAL, QC - MAY 19: Ryan McDonagh #27 of the New York Rangers skates with the puck against the Montreal Canadiens in Game Two of the Eastern Conference Finals of the 2014 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at the Bell Centre on May 19, 2014 in Montreal, Canada. (Photo by Francois Laplante/Freestyle Photography/Getty Images)

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We wrote yesterday about Ryan McDonagh and how the Rangers’ defenseman will be a major key for New York in the Stanley Cup Final versus the favored Los Angeles Kings.

Apparently, Kings coach Darryl Sutter agrees with that notion.

“Obviously he’s gotten a lot better as the playoffs have went along,” Sutter said this morning. “You can see the difference in his confidence, his game, his puck play, all those things. The experience of it for him. It’s a big challenge for us. He is the Rangers’ Doughty. I’m sure they’re talking about Drew and we’re talking about Ryan McDonagh.”

How McDonagh deals with the Kings’ forecheck will be something to monitor in this series. Even Chicago’s Duncan Keith, one of the best there is at escaping pressure, had his troubles in the Western Conference Final.

“They’re a big, physical team,” said McDonagh. “They’ve got a lot of size and speed. So we’ve got to make sure that we break their forecheck and not spend a lot of time in our zone. They’ve got some guys that are going to get in hard on the forecheck. We’ve got to utilize our communication and our puck-moving skills to try to get out of our zone clean.”

Related: Winning a double-edged sword for Doughty, who ‘for sure’ misses his anonymity