Game 4 Preview – New York Rangers @ Ottawa Senators

Wednesday,  April 18th, 2012

7:30 pm

CBC, Team 1200

1st East (51-24-7) @ 8th East (41-31-10)

NYR LEAD SERIES 2-1 

Ottawa played about as well as they could in game 3 and not win the game.  They need to find a way to solve Henrik Lundqvist in game 4 to avoid falling behind 3-1 and face elimination on Saturday night.  In order to do that, the top duo of Jason Spezza and Milan Michalek need to contribute to the offense.

Daniel Alfredsson is still a question mark after suffering a “setback” in his recovery prior to Monday’s game, and hasn’t skated with the team since.  He will not likely play, which means Spezza and Michalek will be the focus of the Rangers so if they can’t score then it will be up to the likes of Foligno and Turris to make an impact.

Craig Anderson excelled in Game 3 and cannot be faulted for Brian Boyle’s goal, which was the only one of the game.

Like Paul MacLean stated after game 3, there is not much to be changed, and if they play that way every night they will come out on the winning end more often than not.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Milan Michalek, OTT – Ottawa’s leading goal scorer has been held to 1 assist so far.  Especially on the power play, 9MM needs to produce.

Henrik Lundqvist, NYR – Can he continue his relative mastery over the Senators this series into game 4?

THINGS TO WATCH FOR

1. The Boyle Factor – Nobody would have predicted the impact he has had in this series.  Boyle has scored in each game so far, including the only goal on Monday.

2.  Butler – Butler will likely skate in place of Alfredsson again.  He played a good game on Monday and if he can continue to play like that, he could have a positive impact on the game.

3.  Matt’s Back – Matt Carkner will likely be back in the lineup after serving his one game suspension for making Boyle look like a chicken in game 2.  Hopefully he can last longer than 39 seconds of ice time this game to avoid taxing the other 5 defensemen.