AT A GLANCE: NHL Playoffs
EASTERN CONFERENCE
(1) Buffalo vs. (6) N.Y. Rangers
BUFFALO: Sabres and Rangers haven’t met since Dec. 1 when Buffalo finished season sweep. … Speedy, small forwards Chris Drury and Daniel Briere will need to show composure when Sean Avery agitates and tries to shake them off their games. … Ryan Miller stopped 80 of 89 shots in beating New York three times.
NEW YORK: Rangers captain Jaromir Jagr led New York with eight points against Buffalo this season. Martin Straka scored four goals and matched Michael Nylander with seven points. … … Henrik Lundqvist made one start in season series, allowing three goals in overtime loss.
(2) New Jersey vs. (4) Ottawa
NEW JERSEY: Martin Brodeur shook off playoff struggles when he allowed three goals in each of the first four games against the Lightning. He rebounded in the final two games. … Zach Parise, who led the Devils with 31 goals, powered their offense in the first round with an NHL-best six goals. Brian Gionta had five.
OTTAWA: Earned 8-1 win over Devils in first meeting of the season before losing three straight one-goal decisions. … Bryan Murray leads remaining conference coaches with 93 playoff games behind the bench. … Senators will need to spread offense around as Jason Spezza, Daniel Alfredsson and Dany Heatley deal with superior defensive forwards.
WESTERN CONFERENCE
(1) Detroit vs. (5) San Jose
DETROIT: The Red Wings advanced to second round for only the second time in four seasons. … Defenseman Chris Chelios, 45, is in line to pass Mark Messier in Game 3 for second place on the career playoff games list (237). … Nicklas Lidstrom had a team-high eight points in the opening round, including six assists.
SAN JOSE: Sharks became first No. 8 seed to eliminate a No. 1 in this format when they ousted the Red Wings in seven games in 1994. … Captain Patrick Marleau, who scored three goals in the first round led San Jose with four goals in four games against Detroit in the regular season. Joe Thornton posted six assists.
(2) Anaheim vs. (3) Vancouver
ANAHEIM: Should take advantage of tired Canucks, who will play today less than 48 hours after eliminating Dallas. … Will rely on defensemen Chris Pronger and Scott Niedermayer, who combined for nine points in the first round and helped goalies Ilya Bryzgalov and Jean-Sebastien Giguere yield only nine goals in five games.
VANCOUVER: Identical twins Henrik and Daniel Sedin join Anaheim’s Niedermayer brothers (Scott and Rob) as the first pairs of siblings since 1986 to face off in the playoffs. … The Canucks led the Stars for 45:55 of the first-round series that featured 512:15 of playing time – including nearly five OTs in the opener.
Ira Podell, Associated Press