East Semifinal Preview

Eastern Conference Semifinal
(1) Buffalo Sabres vs. (6) New York Rangers

LONG TIME NO SEE: The Sabres and Rangers will meet in the playoffs for just the second time ever and the first time in nearly 30 years. The clubs' only prior postseason encounter was a best-of-three preliminary round series in 1978, won by Buffalo 2-1.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK: The Sabres are the first team to meet the Islanders and Rangers in the same playoff season since the Philadelphia Flyers defeated both in 1987 en route to the Stanley Cup Final.

WHO ARE THESE GUYS: The Sabres and Rangers haven't met since completing their four-game season series on Dec. 1. Buffalo won all four - including two in overtime and one in a shootout.

JAGR #1 AGAINST BUFFALO: No active NHL player has scored more career points against the Sabres than the Rangers' Jaromir Jagr, who has tallied 92 (39 goals, 53 assists) in 69 career games with Pittsburgh, Washington and the Rangers.

LOCAL HERO, PART 1: Sabres co-captain Chris Drury is from Trumbull, Conn., 65 miles northeast of New York City. He wears #23 in honor of the Yankees' Don Mattingly.

LOCAL HERO, PART 2: Rangers rookie right wing Ryan Callahan is from Rochester, N.Y., 75 miles east of Buffalo. Callahan grew up idolizing Sabres star Pat LaFontaine and made his NHL debut in Buffalo on Dec. 1 in front of numerous family and friends. "I grew up a Sabres fan, came to a lot of games here, and to play my first NHL game on this ice definitely means a lot to me," Callahan told the Buffalo News.

CLUB CONNECTIONS: Sabres assistant coach James Patrick started his 21-season NHL career with the Rangers and finished it by playing 345 games with the Sabres from 1998-99 through 2003-04. Sabres head coach and longtime player Lindy Ruff finished his playing career with the Rangers, appearing in 83 games over three seasons from 1988-89 through 1990-91. Former Rangers captain and current radio analyst Dave Maloney finished his career in Buffalo, playing 52 games in 1984-85.

LOOKING OUT FOR #1: The Rangers will be facing the NHL's regular-season points leader in the playoffs for the first time since they dropped a best-of-five Patrick Division series 3-0 to the Philadelphia Flyers in 1985.

PRODUCE FROM THE FARM: Both the Sabres and Rangers were sparked by players recalled from their respective American Hockey League affiliates this season. Sabres right wing Drew Stafford, 21 years old, was recalled from Rochester on Feb. 16 to strengthen an injury-depleted Buffalo lineup; he earned a full-time spot on the roster and captured the NHL Rookie of the Month award for March. Rangers defenseman Dan Girardi, who turns 23 on Sunday, was promoted from Hartford, made his NHL debut Jan. 27 and has been in the New York lineup ever since -- averaging 18:56 in ice time per game in the playoffs. Right wing Ryan Callahan, 22,has been in the Rangers lineup for every game since March 16 and has played an average of 10:35 per contest.

YOU LOOK FAMILIAR: This series will stir memories of last season's thrilling seven-game Stanley Cup Final. Rangers center Matt Cullen, was a member of the Stanley Cup-champion Carolina Hurricanes; Buffalo defenseman Jaroslav Spacek and backup goaltender Ty Conklin played for runner-up Edmonton Oilers.

Eastern Conference Semifinal
(2) New Jersey Devils vs. (4) Ottawa Senators

ROSTER MAKEOVER: Only eight players remain from the Ottawa team that was eliminated in seven games by New Jersey in the 2003 Eastern Conference Final: defensemen Chris Phillips, Wade Redden and Anton Volchenkov and forwards Daniel Alfredsson, Mike Fisher, Chris Neil, Peter Schaefer and Jason Spezza.

11 players remain from the New Jersey team that won Game #7 in Ottawa 3-2 in 2003 -- goaltender Martin Brodeur; defensemen Brian Rafalski and Colin White and forwards Sergei Brylin, Patrik Elias, Brian Gionta, Scott Gomez, Jamie Langenbrunner, John Madden, Jay Pandolfo and Michael Rupp.

GOOD OFFENSE VS. GOOD DEFENSE: With an average of 3.5 goals-per-game in the regular-season, the Senators had the League's second-best offense (behind Buffalo's 3.8 goals-per-game). The Devils had the League's third-best defensive record in the regular season, allowing just 2.3 goals per game.

With an average of 2.6 goals-per-game in 2006-07, the Devils are the lowest-scoring team among the 16 that qualified for post-season play. With their opening-round series win over Tampa Bay, they became just the second such team in the past five years to advance past the first round (Minnesota in 2003 was the other). The Devils averaged 3.2 goals-per-game in their opening-round win against the Lightning.

MARTIN BRODEUR: With 22 career playoff shutouts in 159 Stanley Cup appearances, Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur is within one shutout of tying Patrick Roy for the NHL career record. With all four wins in the series against Tampa Bay, Brodeur moved into second place on the all-time playoff wins list with 93 -- behind Patrick Roy's 151. With 114 combined shutouts -- 92 regular-season and 22 playoffs -- Brodeur needs just one more to tie Terry Sawchuk (103+12=115) for the most in NHL history.

PARISE vs. EAVES: The Devils' Zach Parise and the Senators' Patrick Eaves have followed similar career paths to the NHL. Both attended Shattuck-St. Mary's Prep School, both starred in U.S. College hockey (Parise at North Dakota and Eaves at Boston College) and both were selected in the first round of the 2003 NHL Draft (Parise 17th overall, Eaves 29th overall).

Actually, their career paths have an even closer connection. Zach's father, J.P., and Patrick's father, Mike, both played on the same line in Mike's first-ever NHL game, on January 3, 1979 with the Minnesota North Stars. The pair, along with Randy Manery, were on the ice for one goal against in a 3-3 tie against the St. Louis Blues. The 1978-79 season marked J.P. Parise's last in the NHL.

DEVILS-SENS RECAP: The Devils' 2-1 shootout win over the Senators on April 3 marked Lou Lamoriello's 2006-07 coaching debut. The win was also Martin Brodeur's NHL record-tying 47th of the season.

After losing to the Senators 8-1 in the first of four games this season between the teams, the Devils rebounded to win the next three - all one-goal games (3-2, 3-2 and 2-1).

TWO OF THE BEST: The matchup between the Devils and the Senators features two of the top-five regular-season teams over the past 10 seasons. With 1,041 points, the Devils rank third (behind Detroit, 1,081 points, and Dallas, 1,052 points), while Colorado is fourth with 1,008 and the Senators are fifth with 994.

MAKING A LEAD STAND UP: In Game 6 against Tampa Bay, the Devils won their 38th consecutive playoff game when leading after two periods. That's more than twice as long as any other active streak (Anaheim, 17). The last time New Jersey lost a postseason game in which it led entering the third period was May 16, 2000 (Game 2 of Eastern Conference Final at Philadelphia).

SENIOR MURRAY: Ottawa coach Bryan Murray is the tenured coach in playoff games among those remaining in the Eastern Conference. He has coached 93 Stanley Cup playoff games; the other three Eastern Conference coaches combined (Ruff 77, Lamoriello 15 and Renney 8) only total 100. Murray's first playoff game was with the Washington Capitals in 1983. He is the leader among active NHL coaches in both games (1,221) and wins (613), sits fifth in all-time wins and sixth in all-time games coached.

Photo: Sabres were the best in regular season © Richard Wolowicz (HV)