Crucial Game 2’s will take place later tonight in both the New York and California regions. The Rangers will look to rebound from a 5-2 Game One loss to Buffalo and even their best-of-seven semi series at HSBC Arena at 7 ET/4 PT.

Out in the Pacific, the Canucks will attempt to do the same thing and reverse an ugly 5-1 Game One defeat at the Pond in the second game scheduled for 10 ET/7 PT.

If both teams can bounce back, they could then take home ice away and setup potentially long series. We’ll find out what each are made of tonight.

Here is some info regarding last nite’s Game 1 road wins for San Jose and Ottawa:

FROM THE STAT WIZARDS AT ELIAS SPORTS BUREAU
Ottawa jumped to a 4-0 lead against Martin Brodeur and the Devils in the first 16:39 of the opening period in Game 1 of their series, then held on for a 5-4 win. It was the first time that the Senators ever scored as many as four goals in the first period of a playoff game and the first time that New Jersey allowed that many goals in the first period of a postseason game. For Brodeur, it marked just the second time that he allowed four goals in any period of a playoff game. Toronto scored four times against him in the third period in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals in 2001, though Brodeur and New Jersey won that game in overtime (6-5).

New Jersey had not allowed more than three goals in any of its past 25 home playoff games. That was two games shy of the longest such streak in NHL playoff history (27 games), a mark set by the Sabres from 1998-2006. The last time the Devils allowed more than three goals in a home playoff game was Game 6 of the 2001 Stanley Cup Finals vs. Colorado (lost 4-0).

The Sharks beat the Red Wings 2-0 at Joe Louis Arena in Game 1 of their series. It was San Jose’s third win in seven playoff games in Detroit (2-2 in four games in 1994, 0-2 in two games in 1995), which matches the number of wins the Sharks have posted in 29 all-time regular-season games there (25 Red Wings wins, one tie).
HE SAID IT
“I think he’s a big-moment player. That’s how I would describe him. He had a knack for that in Colorado. I had more experience playing against him when I was in Detroit and he was in Colorado. Certain players don’t like the big moments; he’s a player that does.” — Rangers’ Brendan Shanahan on the Sabres’ Chris Drury.

Here are some relevant articles:

1.Rangers looking for momentum change

“We usually responded well after” a tough loss, Shanahan said. “You think you have to do these remarkable, crazy things in the playoffs. You really don’t. You just have to draw on the best hockey you’ve played.”

2.Just don’t call them a fourth line

“I wouldn’t want to put a number on the lines,” Ruff said. “Can you say that the (Derek) Roy line is the second or third line for us when they’ve scored the most goals out of all of them? Just to use a quote from the Philly series last year, their goaltender said we had four No. 2 lines. And I pretty well look at it that way. We have lines that can compete at both ends, we have lines that are all pretty good at scoring.”

3.Ducks look to maintain team first attitude

“It’s important to try to keep a positive attitude even though you might not be a hundred percent happy with your situation,” Giguere said. “I know for some guys, sometimes it’s hard, but it doesn’t show. Guys are always in a good mood. Everybody is happy the team is winning. You don’t have awkward situations where people feel uncomfortable.”

4.Senators clear hurdles in Meadowlands

Added linemate Daniel Alfredsson: “We know he’s a really good goalie but if you shoot the puck, you can score on anyone. We know he’ll probably steal a game or two in this series, we’re prepared for that but we’ll just throw everything we have at him and see what happens.”

The end of this article had an interesing quote from Jason Spezza on the Devils not selling out for such a big game between two quality teams:

Continental Airlines Arena, which will host the Raptors and Nets game tonight, was about two-thirds full for this game.

“It’s disappointing,” said the Senators’ Jason Spezza. “These guys have a real good hockey team and you’d wish they’d support them a little bit better.”

5.Sharks’ Nabokov silences Detroit

“When we needed Nabby, he was there for us,” Grier said. “And he made big save after big save.”

Most stunning aspect of this article:

“The Pistons are playing, right?” Carle asked.

Yes, the Pistons were indeed playing on local television - and taking a 3-0 lead in their NBA series with Orlando. But you still need just 20,066 people to fill Joe Louis Arena. The Red Wings came up about 2,000 short.

Here’s tonight’s Conference Semifinal schedule along with what’s on tap for this weekend:

TONIGHT’S SCHEDULE (All times ET)
Rangers at Sabres, 7 p.m. on RDS, TSN, VERSUS (BUF leads series 1-0)
Canucks at Ducks, 10 p.m. on CBC, RDS, VERSUS (ANA leads series 1-0)

SATURDAY’S SCHEDULE
Sharks at Red Wings, 3 p.m. on NBC, RDS, TSN
Senators at Devils, 8 p.m. on CBC, RDS, VERSUS

SUNDAY’S SCHEDULE
Sabres at Rangers, 2 p.m. on NBC, RDS, TSN
Ducks at Canucks, 8 p.m. on CBC, RDS, VERSUS