New York at Buffalo

The Rangers swept the Thrashers in round one but they could be the one swept here. Buffalo is just that good. They scored 308 goals in the regular seasons and had seven separate players score 20 or more. Buffalo swept the Rangers during the regular season, going 4-0. It's been five months since the teams have met but the result in game one should be the same. New York on the road was just over .500 this season but their scoring drops off significantly compared to home games (2.8 per game on road vs. 3.2 at home). Buffalo kept the Islanders to 2.2 per game so New York will have trouble keeping up with the high-powered Sabres offense (4.0 per game at home in regular season, 3.4 per game vs. the Islanders). Over the past two seasons, the Rangers are just 4-17 on the road vs. winning teams in late-season play! This season, since the mid-way point, they are 1-8 vs. teams that outscore their opponents by 0.3+ goals per game. Too much to ask for New York here.