Series: Rangers up 1-0.

NYR Leading Scorer: Marian Gaborik (41-35-76)
OTT Leading Scorer: Jason Spezza (34-50-84)

NYR Goaltender: Henrik Lundqvist (62 GS, 1.97 GAA, .931 SV%)
OTT Goaltender:  Craig Anderson (60 GS, 2.83 GAA, .910 SV%)

Rangers Lines (probable):

Carl Hagelin-Brad Richards-Marian Gaborik
Artem Anisimov-Derek Stepan- Ryan Callahan
Brandon Dubinsky-Brian Boyle-Ruslan Fedotenko
Mike Rupp-John Mitchell-Brandon Prust

Defense:

Ryan McDonagh-Dan Girardi
Michael Del Zotto-Anton Stralman
Marc Staal-Stu Bickel

Henrik Lundqvist gets the start

Probable Scratches/Injuries:  Mike Sauer (concussion), Mats Zuccarello (wrist), Steve Eminger (ankle), Jeff Woywitka (healthy), John Scott (healthy), Chris Kreider (healthy)

Preview: The Senators didn’t play well in game one, revealing their biggest weakness which is a subpar team defense. As I said in our recap, the Senators will likely make the necessary adjustments and should be tighter for game two.

We also learned from game one that the Senators had to abandon their trap once the Rangers took the lead. This forced the Senators to be more aggressive, but also exposed them defensively. Even with the lead the Rangers stayed aggressive and it’s their commitment to backchecking combined with the mobility of their defensemen that keeps the Rangers from experiencing the same flaws.

The wild card here is the referees. I thought Don Van Massenhoven Tom Kowal and Dan O’Halloran were very inconsistent in their calls in game one. I can’t say I am familiar with Kowal, but O’Halloran was one of the refs (including Sutherland) who was guilty of re-writing the rulebook for Sean Avery AND always seems to swallow the whistle against Pittsburgh. None the less, the Rangers need to do exactly what they did in game one and play through any BS calls.

Not That Crazy A Thought: Rangers just need to get it done tonight. I do not want to go to Ottawa with the series tied.

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