Rangers Visit Senators in Ottawa

Rangers (16-11-3, 35 pts) at Senators (9-13-7, 25 pts)

7 pm; Canadian Tire Centre

MSG Network; ESPN 98.7 FM

Tonight is the second of three games between the two teams, with the Rangers taking the first, 3-0, on Nov. 19 at Madison Square Garden.
The Senators are struggling heading into tonight's game with just one win its last 10 games, including a 3-2 loss Tuesday night against the Sabres. Ottawa has lost five straight and has just one win since winning back-to-back games against the Colorado Avalanche on Nov. 10 and 11.
Mark Stone leads Ottawa with 26 points in 29 games, followed by Mike Hoffman's 22. Defenseman Erik Karlsson has 19 points in 24 games this season.
Ottawa acquired Matt Duchene in a three-team trade last month, but the forward has had trouble transitioning to his new team with just two goals and four points in 15 games as a Senator.
Goaltender Craig Anderson is expected to get the start for the Senators after Mike Condon started - and lost - Tuesday night. Anderson is 7-10-3 with a 3.11 GAA and an .895 SV% this season.

Players to Watch

Kevin Shattenkirk doesn't have much experience against Ottawa, but the defenseman has made the most of his games against the Senators during his career. Shattenkirk has two goals and nine assists in 11 games, including a point in five of his last six games against Ottawa with one three-point performance.
Ottawa's success of the last several seasons has hinged on the individual success of Karlsson, and it's evident that's true on the opposite side of the spectrum as well. Karlsson had four points in the two wins over Ottawa last month; since then, the blueliner has just two assists (both in the last three games) and the Senators have just one win.

Say What?

"We know them well. We know their system well. We know the areas that we can exploit to have success against that team. We just have to go out and do it. I'm confident we're going to have real good focus [tonight] and we're going to come out and play hard." - Vigneault on facing the Senators

Rangers Projected Lineup

Chris Kreider - David Desharnais - Pavel Buchnevich
Rick Nash - Kevin Hayes - Jesper Fast
Michael Grabner - J.T. Miller - Mats Zuccarello
Paul Carey - Boo Nieves - Jimmy Vesey
Ryan McDonagh - Nick Holden
Brady Skjei - Kevin Shattenkirk
Marc Staal - Brendan Smith

Inside the Numbers

The Blueshirts have earned at least one point in 11 of their last 15 regular season contests on the road against Ottawa, dating back to Jan. 10, 2009 (10-4-1 record).