6:38PM: Quinn spoke before the game and said (NYR):

• On the Sens, “the team we saw last time gave us a thrashing. I think we sort of jump started them on this great run they are on. They are playing good hockey, well coached, they play really hard. This is a game about effort more than anything, the team that puts forth the best effort is going to have a W in the win column. This isn’t anything fancy, all about effort and attention to detail and this team is going to bring the best out of each team because of how they play in those areas. We want to get into a rhythm of playing well, we’ve been up and down, very inconsistent. We’ve strung two pretty good games together, the game in Florida and obviously the game against Washington. Lets get into a rhythm, we are 18-games into this. We’ve gotta go on a little run where we are playing well. We want to feel good about our effort, want to feel good about our intentions and if we do that we will have a chance to win hockey games.”
• On Brendan Lemieux, “he’s been important to us from day one. Everyone notes how hard he plays, how he plays on the edge and, unfortunately for him he didn’t get a good grip when the flight started. When you fight someone like Wilson you pay the price for it. This guy is afraid of nobody, this isn’t a guy who is just out there and fights, he plays hard, he makes people’s life miserable out there and he has some skill. With a little bit of puck luck he’d have 5 or 6 goals which is pretty good for a guy who plays the minutes he plays and situations he plays in. His line was really good two nights ago and he was a big reason why. I’m just really happy with how he approaches the game night in and out and how hard he is playing.”
• On Henrik tonight rather than tomorrow, “he’s in a bit of a rhythm and I just want to give Georgie the chance in Montreal. They were going to split either way, Hank is in a pretty good rhythm so I wanted to give him three in a row.”

3:09PM: The Rangers face the Ottawa Senators tonight for the third and final time this season.

The Rangers won the first meeting 4-1 in Ottawa and lost the second meeting 6-2 at MSG.

In that 6-2 loss, the Rangers held a 1-0 lead before allowing 5 straight goals.

When asked about that loss on Thursday, David Quinn said “I hope it’s as fresh in their minds as it is in ours, as a coaching staff. I think it is and our guys understand that…we are playing a good hockey team. I know these guys are in a situation where they have made trades and done things of that nature but they play hard, they’ve done a good job. It started in our game and they gave it to us pretty good and they build on that. We are going to have our hands full tomorrow night.” (NYR)

The Senators, 10-11-1, have won two straight and 7 of their last 10.

Henrik Lundqvist starts in net for the Rangers, his first start against Ottawa this season.

Anders Nilsson will start for the Senators. He stopped 32 of 34 shots in the Senators win over the Rangers at MSG.

Adam Rotter: In a short season that has had some very low moments, that loss to Ottawa ranks near the bottom with the Boston game and 9-3 Tampa game. The Rangers lost their way in that game and then lost their composure in a big way with Brady Tkachuk leading the charge. The Rangers need to keep their composure, though I’m sure Brendan Lemieux and Tony DeAngelo will probably get in Tkachuk’s face, and if they get a lead, keep their foot on the gas. The Rangers can hopefully build off their strong performance against the Capitals, bring it tonight against the Sens and then tomorrow into Montreal.