Round 2: Sabres (1) vs. Rangers (6)

Offense: While the Rangers used to be the classic one line, top heavy team, but they are that no longer. The return of Marcel Hossa has allowed Tom Renney to construct a real second line with Shanahan, Straka and Sean Avery. Matt Cullen, Peter Prucha and Ryan Callahan make up a capable 3rd line. The Sabres, on the other hand, are now truly 4 offensive lines deep with the return of Tim Connolly, the trade for Dainus Zubrus and the quick growth of rookie Drew Stafford. The Rangers Power Play is lethal and it's incumbent upon Buffalo to not give them any easy goals, which means ignoring Sean Avery unless he does something akin to Chris Neil's hit on Chris Drury. Anything else has to be met with indifference. Otherwise, New York will eat up their upstate rivals with the man advantage, especially in Games 1 and 2 as the Sabres PK at home is nigh-abysmal. But, in the end, the top 2 lines for these teams should be a push in terms of production. And, that's where the real key to the series is. Can Matt Cullen's line out produce, either directly or indirectly by drawing penalties, Derek Roy's line? If so, the Rangers have a real chance.

Defense: Ruff will use Tallinder and Lydman as the shutdown pair against the Jagr line, that much is certain. Both teams like to spread the ice time out with the 1st pair seeing 20-22 minutes and the bottom pair seeing 13-15. The Rangers have a much improved transition game coming out of their own zone with the growth of Tyutin and Girardi, while the Sabres were built with this concept in mind from the beginning. The key to this area of each team is the play of the #5/#6 guys. Can Campbell/Spacek outplay Mara/Pock. Can the Rangers defense deal with the speed of the Sabres forwards? These are good questions that I don't have an answer to. The Sabres defense, while not physically imposing generally try and keep things to the outside but can be ground down and outworked. If Dmitri Kalinin has another strrong series then he helps to neutralize Jagr. Kalinin is playing very well right now and that is helping his partner Teppo Numinnen to not take the beating he did earlier in the season. The Rangers should be playing dump and chase against Numminen and Campbell and if they don't handle the forecheck well, this could be a very long series for Buffalo.

Goaltending: While the stats will tell you that this is a mismatch in the Rangers favor, stats are really irrelevant in the post-season, in my opinion. Wins are the only things that matter. Henrik Lundqvist has been playing extremely well and that has had a ripple effect on the rest of the team, from the defensemen out. There's no reason to believe that he will not continue to be excellent in this series and he is, ultimately, the key to the Rangers success. On the other side of things, Ryan Miller is perfectly capable of raising his level to that of the guy at the other end of the rink, and on most nights will do exactly that. If pushed Miller usually pushes back. These are two of the very best breakaway goalies in the league and if this thing turns into a breathless series of rushes, we may all be shaking our heads more times than we care to. Miller has an uncanny sense of when his team needs his best and he nearly always produces. If he eliminates the odd lazy goal from his game there may not be an advantage in goal in this series. But, as of right now, Lundqvist is playing better.

Prediction: The Rangers have been talking tough, while the Sabres realize that 2nd gear is not going to get things done. While New York has confidence and swagger right now, they haven't seen this Sabres squad in a while, and if they shake off the jitters that come with the expectations on them and play loose and focused, this could be a real wake-up call for the Rangers of just how far they have to go. The Isles were the perfect opening round opponent for Buffalo, giving them a solid effort but, ultimately, an easy victory.

The Thrashers' implosion was really quite predictable and the Rangers pounced on them perfectly, but, in reality, were they really a better team than the Islanders? I sincerely doubt it. In other words, I'm unconvinced about the overall quality of the Rangers, they may have just swept the worst team to make the tournament. I just don't see Buffalo taking them lightly.

All of that said though, there are a number of ways that this series could reach seven games, but I don't think they're likely. I know the Sabres well, and while that may create a bias, it also creates insight. This team understands winning and Ruff game-plans better than any coach in the league for a particular opponent. I expect every game to be tightly contested and highly entertaining, but I don't think it lasts very long.

The Sabres, from top to bottom, are a superior hockey team and should dispatch the Rangers in 5 games.

For more on this series, msg.com has all of their broadcasters blogging their thoughts, from both sides of the fence. I will be covering it here and with Matt at Sabre Rattling, including a detailed Q&A here. Kevin and Matt at Bfloblog will have their perspective. For the Rangers please check out The Hockey Rodent for his unique voice, Rangers Review for a spirited bout of analysis and Hockeybird for podcasts and opinions.

Ta,