Stanley Cup Playoffs, day eight: Capitals/Rangers Game of the Night; Lehner starts

There are a lot of intriguing match-ups tonight. Four of the five games tonight involve a 2-1 series, so they should be huge games.  But only one can be bestowed the honour of being game of the night.

Tonight, the Silver Seven Game of the Night (brought to you by Booster Juice, the official smoothie supplier of Silver Seven Sens) features the Washington Capitals taking on the New York Rangers. The series has featured three close games, and Bruce Boudreau added to the drama by suggesting that the Rangers (specifically Marc Staal) are targetting Mike Green's head. Green, of course, just recently returned from a concussion. He also questioned the reputation of Madison Square Gardens as a loud and intimidating building. With a win, the Capitals can take a 3-1 stranglehold. This is key, because the Capitals never blow a 3-1 series lead in the first round right? For their part, should the Rangers prevail, they will level the series and reduce the series to a best of three, further increasing the pressure on the Capitals to perform in the postseason.

The big news from the Senators front is that goaltender-of-the-future, Robin Lehner, makes his first career professional playoff start. Lehner went 10-8-2 with a 2.70 GAA and stopped 91.2% of opposition shots in the AHL, while posting three shutouts. He is going to need to come up big for a team facing elimination, down 3-1 in the series, and coming off back to back losses allowing a total of 11 goals.

Which one of Robin Lehner's dad's pupils will fare better tonight, Robin Lehner or Henrik Lundqvist?

Tonight's schedule

• 1) Washington Capitals at 8) New York Rangers (7:00 p.m. on TSN, Washington leads 2-1)
• 2) Philadelphia Flyers at 7) Buffalo Sabres (7:30 p.m. on TSN2, Philadelphia leads 2-1)
• 4) Pittsburgh Penguins at 5) Tampa Bay Lightning (7:00 p.m. on CBC, RDS, Pittsburgh leads 2-1)
• 4) Anaheim Ducks at 5) Nashville Predators (8:30 p.m. but joined in progress on TSN after Capitals/Rangers, Nashville leads 2-1)
• 3) Detroit Red Wings at 6) Phoenix Coyotes (10:30 p.m. on CBC, Detroit leads 3-0)
• 2) Manchester Monarchs at 3) Binghamton Senators (7:00 p.m. on Team 1200, Manchester leads 3-1)