Rogers' Game 1 TOTAL MASSACRE >> 70-50-3 Overall L24 Days!
(NHL) NY Rangers vs. Ottawa,
Total: 5.00 | -115.00 Under
Result: Loss
The set-up: The Rangers ousted Atlantic Division champion Montreal in six games for the right to face Atlantic runner-up Ottawa, which also won its first-round series in six games over Boston Bruins. The Rangers posted a league-high 27 road wins this season and took two of three games in Montreal in the first round. Meanwhile, Ottawa won all three road games at Boston in its first round series.

NY Rangers: New York eliminated Montreal despite getting one assist each from two of its leading goal scorers, Chris Kreider and J.T. Miller, In fact, Mika Zibanejad's four points represented a team high. However, that speaks to the Rangers' depth. A real positive was the late arrival of leading overall scorer Mats Zuccarello, who scored twice in the Game 6 clinching win over Montreal. In the end though, the Rangers will likely pin their hopes on goalie Henrik Lundqvist. After a 2-0 shutout of Montreal in Game 1, he surrendered seven goals in back-to-back losses. However, the veteran then allowed just four goals in three straight New York wins.

Ottawa: The Senators just finished a tightly contested series against Boston, one which that featured six one-goal games. Senators captain Erik Karlsson made a surprising revelation following the series with Boston. He was playing with two hairline fractures in his left heel, but it certainly did not appear to hinder the star defenseman, who collected six assists against the Bruins and played nearly 42 minutes in Game 5. Forward Bobby Ryan followed up a 13-goal regular season by scoring four times against the Bruins, and with Clarke MacArthur back in the lineup after missing most of the past two seasons due to concussions, Ottawa can counter New York's outstanding balance with four solid lines of its down.

The pick: Lundqvist comes in hot but as we saw in Games 2 and 3 against Montreal, he can be beat. As noted, the Rangers are an outstanding road team and so far, have averaged 3.02 goals in all road games this season, Ottawa goalie Craig Anderson allowed three goals in half of the six games against Boston and don't be surprised if this first game sees both teams being able to put the puck in the opposing net. Make the Over an 8* play.