Round 2, Game 1 preview: New York Rangers @ Ottawa Senators

The Ottawa Senators will host game one of a second round series for the first time in 11 years when they host the New York Rangers tonight. Both clubs won their first round series in six games and it will be the second time the two clubs meet in the playoffs. The Rangers won the first meeting in seven games back in 2012.

The Senators have had three days off since winning in overtime in Boston on Sunday afternoon while the Rangers have been idle since Saturday night. There will be no changes to the lineup so here are the expected lines for Ottawa.

Hoffman - Pageau - Stone
MacArthur - Brassard - Ryan
Dzingel - Turris - Burrows
Stålberg - Smith - Wingels

Methot - Karlsson
Phaneuf - Ceci
Claesson - Harpur

Anderson (starter)
Condon

Some notes for tonight:

• Ottawa carried the play against a banged up Bruins side. It will be interesting to see how they do against a healthy Rangers lineup that isn't as strong as a healthy Boston lineup.
• I see a lot of confidence in Ottawa winning without Mike Hoffman and Mark Stone scoring too much. While I agree that will likely change, you have to account for Derick Brassard and Bobby Ryan likely falling compared to round one.
• At 5-on-5, the Senators and the Bruins combined for 51 shots on goal for 60 minutes. The Rangers and the Canadiens combined for 59.
• After Erik's great play for the game two equaliser, the Bruins had the lead in a game for 2% of the remaining series. Ottawa had the lead for 27% of the time and it was a tie for the remaining 71%. That might explain why we were so tense in that series.
• Craig Anderson had a rough start to the series but ended with a save percentage of 92.1 by the end. Henrik Lundqvist was even better at 94.7%.
• Ottawa received 26 power plays in the first round, which was the second most. The Rangers were shorthanded the third most with 20. The Senators power play can again be a huge difference.
• The Rangers lead the playoffs with 285 hits. That is going to be a big narrative now. Of course the Bruins were second in hits so...
• The Senators were outshot by the Bruins only once in six games. The Rangers outshot the Habs only once in six games. Another good omen for Ottawa.

Here are some stats for the two teams tonight. All stats are from NHL.com except Corsi and Fenwick are from Corsica.