Round Two: FIGHT!

Ottawa versus New Jersey. That's the matchup the Sens face starting this Thursday. While I had hoped Tampa Bay would prevail over the Devils, especially after holding a 2-1 series lead, I'm far from surprised they lost. New Jersey tends to field a strong team year after year, and it's been 4 years since they've squared off against the Sens. The result from that series, the Eastern Conference Final, went 7 games before the Sens fell to the Cup-winning Devils.

This would be the perfect series for Ottawa to get the playoff monkey off the team's back, especially considering what happened the last time these teams met in the playoffs. Key players like Alfredsson and Spezza will need to step up; Alfie has had one of his best playoff rounds yet, and Spezza did well but still has some room for improvement. If some of the marginal players like Chris Kelly and Mike Comrie can keep up the momentum then the Sens will have an easier time vanquishing the Devils. Overall, the key is Brodeur and always will be for as long as he's around. Get to him and the rest of the pieces fall into place.

GO SENS GO.