***** National Hockey League Previews from The Sports Network *****
                                Sunday, May 19th
                              (All times Eastern)
 
 (6) NEW YORK RANGERS (0-1) AT (4) BOSTON BRUINS (1-0), 3 P.M.
 
 (Sports Network) - The New York Rangers will try to bounce back from an
 overtime loss when they visit the Boston Bruins on Sunday for Game 2 of the
 Eastern Conference semifinals.
 
 Although the rivalry between the Rangers and Bruins goes back to the days of
 the NHL's Original Six, this series marks the first time the clubs are meeting
 in the playoffs in 40 years. Their last postseason encounter was in the 1973
 quarterfinals, when New York downed Boston in five games.
 
 Boston, which is 6-3 in nine all-time playoff series against the Rangers,
 grabbed the early lead in this best-of-seven series, taking Thursday's Game 1
 clash in a 3-2 OT decision.
 
 Brad Marchand netted the winner at 15:40 of overtime as the fourth-seeded
 Bruins took Game 1 at TD Garden. Patrice Bergeron, who netted the tying goal
 and overtime winner in Boston's Game 7 win over Toronto in the opening round,
 skated down the right wing and from the low circle he fed it to the front
 where Marchand tipped it in for the win.
 
 For Marchand, it was his first goal of the playoffs and only his second point.
 
 "I thought Brad, personally, that was one of his better games of the
 playoffs," said Boston head coach Claude Julien. "That's the Brad Marchand
 that we know and he's capable of playing like that every night."
 
 Marchand and Zdeno Chara each had a goal and an assist while Torey Krug also
 lit the lamp for the Bruins. Tuukka Rask stopped 33 shots in the win.
 
 Boston thoroughly dominated the extra period, outshooting New York 16-5, with
 the 16th shot finally making it past a stalwart Henrik Lundqvist after a
 Derick Brassard pass on a rush in the Boston end missed its target and the
 Bruins went the other way.
 
 Lundqvist turned aside 45 shots in a losing effort and has posted a 1.76 goals
 against average and .945 save percentage in these playoffs. The reigning
 Vezina Trophy winner was coming off consecutive shutouts in Games 6 and 7 of
 New York's opening-round win over third-seeded Washington.
 
 Derek Stepan and Ryan McDonagh each scored in the setback.
 
 "We never regrouped in the overtime," said New York head coach John
 Tortorella. "It was a surge that we couldn't stop and if we want to win our
 next game here we need to be better. We got spanked in the overtime."
 
 Rangers forwards Rick Nash and Brad Richards both went without a point in Game
 1 and the club is still waiting for its two most expensive skaters to chip in
 on offense.
 
 Nash, who comes with an annual salary cap hit of $7.8 million, led New York
 with 21 goals in the regular season but has managed just three assists in
 eight games this postseason. This is just the second career playoff run for
 Nash, who was acquired last summer in a trade with Columbus.
 
 Richards, who signed a nine-year, $58.5 million contract prior to the 2011-12
 season, has one goal so far. A former Conn Smythe winner for Tampa Bay in
 2004, Richards recorded six goals and nine assists for the Rangers in last
 year's playoffs, which ended in the conference finals against New Jersey.
 
 Meanwhile, Boston played Game 1 without defensemen Andrew Ference, Wade Redden
 and Dennis Seidenberg, all of whom are battling injuries. All three players
 are questionable for Sunday.
 
 The Bruins were 16-5-3 as the host during the regular season and have a 3-2
 record at TD Garden in these playoffs. New York is 1-4 on the road in this
 postseason after going 10-12-2 as the guest in the regular season.
 
 Game 3 is scheduled for Tuesday in New York.
 
 (1) PITTSBURGH PENGUINS (2-0) AT (7) OTTAWA SENATORS (0-2), 7:30 P.M.
 
 (Sports Network) - The Ottawa Senators will aim for their first win of the
 Eastern Conference semifinals on Sunday, when they host the top-seeded
 Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 3 at Scotiabank Place.
 
 The Senators are down two games to none in this best-of-seven set after
 getting outscored by a combined 8-4 margin over the first two meetings in
 Pittsburgh.
 
 Ottawa hopes the return of centerman Jason Spezza can help it get on the board
 in Game 3. Spezza, who underwent back surgery on Feb. 1, hasn't played since
 the fifth game of the regular season, but he is expected to be back in the
 lineup on Sunday night. Spezza has been skating with the team since shortly
 after the Sens eliminated Montreal in the conference quarterfinals, and took
 part in a full practice on Saturday.
 
 "I've gone through a full recovery," Spezza told his club's web site.
 "Obviously I've been off a long time, you're never going to be quite the same
 right away. I've put in the work so it's not like I'm expected to play out of
 the blue."
 
 Spezza is a proven playoff performer, recording 51 points (17G, 34A) over 53
 career postseason games.
 
 After taking the opener by a 4-1 score on Tuesday, the Penguins needed to work
 a bit harder for their 4-3 victory in Friday's Game 2. It was Pittsburgh's
 fourth straight win since losing Game 4 to the New York Islanders in the
 opening round. The Penguins won that series in six games to advance to the
 conference semifinals for the first time since 2010.
 
 Sidney Crosby scored Pittsburgh's first three goals of the game and completed
 the hat trick just 1:15 into the second period, when his sixth goal of the
 playoffs gave the Pens a 3-1 advantage.
 
 Ottawa trailed 4-2 after 40 minutes, but Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored 2:01 into
 the third period to make it a one-goal game. The Penguins, however, were able
 to hold on for the win, as Tomas Vokoun turned aside 19 shots to record his
 fourth straight win since replacing Marc-Andre Fleury prior to Game 5 against
 the Isles.
 
 Crosby posted his second career playoff hat trick on Friday. The 25-year-old
 center has owned Ottawa in recent years, picking up at least one point (10G,
 15A) in nine of his past 11 postseason games against the Sens.
 
 With his first goal on Friday, Crosby reached 100 points in the postseason in
 just his 75th game, becoming the fifth fastest player to accomplish the feat.
 His second tally also moved him past Ron Francis for sole possession of fourth
 place on the franchise's all-time postseason point list.
 
 "It's not something you want to get too caught up in, but it's always nice to
 score and obviously to get a hat trick, I know it feels good," Crosby said.
 "And to get the win, it makes it a lot better when you win."
 
 Brenden Morrow registered Pittsburgh's other goal, which ended up being the
 deciding tally for the Pens, who have a 2-0 lead in a series for the first
 time since sweeping the Carolina Hurricanes in the 2009 Eastern Conference
 finals en route to their last Stanley Cup title.
 
 Kyle Turris and Colin Greening also scored once for the Senators, who fell to
 2-3 on the road in the 2013 playoffs.
 
 Craig Anderson allowed three goals on 21 shots before being removed following
 Crosby's third goal early in the second. Robin Lehner, making his first career
 postseason appearance, stopped 20-of-21 shots in relief.
 
 "We were not ready to match [their start]," Ottawa coach Paul MacLean
 admitted. "Catch-up hockey is losing hockey. We have to make sure we're ready
 for the next game at the start."
 
 The seventh-seeded Sens hope to get off to a better start Sunday in front of
 their home fans. Ottawa was 15-6-3 at Scotiabank Place during the regular
 season and was 2-0 as the host in its opening-round win over the second-seeded
 Canadiens.
 
 Pittsburgh was 2-1 on the road against the Isles in Round 1. During the
 regular season, the Pens had identical 18-6-0 records at home and on the road.
 
 Game 4 is scheduled for Wednesday in Canada's capital city.
 
 
 
 
 05/19 11:03:26 ET