5 Keys: Senators at Rangers, Game 4

SENATORS at RANGERS
7:30 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, TVA Sports
Ottawa leads best-of-7 series 2-1

NEW YORK --The New York Rangers will look to even the Eastern Conference Second Round against the Ottawa Senators in Game 4 at Madison Square Garden on Thursday.
The Rangers lost the first two games of the series in Ottawa but responded with a 4-1 win in Game 3 on Tuesday.
Here are 5 keys for Game 4:

1. Bobby Ryan will play

Senators forward Bobby Ryan, who sustained a lower-body injury during Game 3, said he is feeling better and will play Thursday. He has eight points (four goals, four assists) in nine Stanley Cup Playoff games.
"I've had the last two days to get plenty of treatment," Ryan said. "I feel good and I'm ready to go."

2. Senators must get to dirty areas

You could count on one hand the number of quality scoring chances the Senators generated in Game 3, something that needs to change drastically Thursday. It is imperative they do a better job of making life difficult for Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist, who has a .935 save percentage in nine games this postseason.
"They blocked a lot of shots last game," Senators center Derick Brassard said. "Sometimes we could be maybe a little bit more patient with the puck and make the right decisions. We've been playing like that all year long. We always have guys in front and we just have to make sure that we stay there so [Lundqvist] doesn't see it. We've been talking about it since [Wednesday]; we have to go out there and execute."

3. Be more responsible with the puck

The Senators looked sloppy handling the puck Tuesday and consistently turned it over. That led to several scoring chances for the Rangers and allowed them to take a 2-0 lead into the first intermission.
"Stuff like that is going to happen," Senators defenseman Erik Karlsson said. "Mistakes are going to happen; it's a matter of what type of mistakes it is. When we have the puck, that's the time when you don't want to give it away for no reason. Things are going to happen, plays are going to happen and you're going to make mistakes, but you've got to try and regroup as fast as you can."

4. Tanner Glass stays in Rangers lineup

After being a healthy scratch for five consecutive games, Rangers left wing Tanner Glass played an effective 10 minutes and had an assist on Tuesday. He will play again in Game 4 instead of forward Pavel Buchnevich.
"We know that Tanner in the dressing room with his experience is a good voice, a positive voice, and we felt we needed that," Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said. "We knew what we were going to get on the ice. He went out and did exactly what we expected."

5. Forget about Game 3

The Rangers were dominant in the first period Tuesday, when they took a 2-0 lead and outshot the Senators 15-5. But they know what they accomplished Tuesday won't mean much if they fail to win Game 4.
"We're still down 2-1 in the series," Rangers center Derek Stepan said. "Game 3 was good, but Game 3 is gone and past now. It doesn't mean anything. I don't think we're going to see the same Ottawa team come out in Game 4, so we better be ready to go right from the start. We're still chasing the series right now."

Senators projected lineup

Viktor Stalberg -- Kyle Turris -- Mark Stone
Clarke MacArthur -- Derick Brassard -- Bobby Ryan
Mike Hoffman -- Jean-Gabriel Pageau -- Alexandre Burrows
Tom Pyatt -- Zack Smith -- Tommy Wingels
Marc Methot -- Erik Karlsson
Dion Phaneuf -- Cody Ceci
Chris Wideman -- Ben Harpur
Craig Anderson
Mike Condon
Scratched: Ryan Dzingel, Chris Kelly, Fredrik Claesson, Chris Neil, Colin White, Jyrki Jokipakka
Injured:Mark Borowiecki (lower body)

Rangers projected lineup

Jimmy Vesey -- Derek Stepan -- Rick Nash
Chris Kreider -- Mika Zibanejad -- Mats Zuccarello
Michael Grabner -- Kevin Hayes -- Jesper Fast
Tanner Glass -- Oscar Lindberg -- J.T. Miller
Ryan McDonagh -- Dan Girardi
Marc Staal -- Nick Holden
Brady Skjei -- Brendan Smith
Henrik Lundqvist
Antti Raanta
Scratched:Pavel Buchnevich, Matt Puempel, Brandon Pirri, Steven Kampfer, Kevin Klein
Injured:None

Status report

Zack Smith, who missed the last two periods of Game 3 because of an upper-body injury, is feeling better than expected and will be a game-time decision. Senators coach Guy Boucher said Pyatt, who sustained an upper-body injury against the Boston Bruins in the first round, will play, but it hasn't been decided who Pyatt will replace. Wideman will play for the first time since Game 5 of the first round against the Bruins on April 21, replacing Claesson. … Nash did not practice Wednesday or skate Thursday morning, but Vigneault said he was fine.

Who's hot

Pageau has five goals in the past two games. … Zuccarello has five points (three goals, two assists) in the past four games.