The New York Rangers look to avoid the upset bug when the No. 8 seed Ottawa Senators invade Madison Square Garden on Thursday.

It's Game 1 of the Stanley Cup playoffs series and pits the underdog Senators, who were 3-1 against the Rangers during the season, against the East's top seed. [ Full Senators Rangers preview ]

The Rangers sport records of 51-24-7 heading into this matchup, while the Senators sit at 41-31-10 on the season. The OVER/UNDER records are 32-31-19 for the Rangers and 42-38-2 for the Senators.



View Ottawa vs NY Rangers Odds and Stats.

Betting Line:
If you're backing the visitors in this one, you'll find the Senators listed as underdogs of +-175 at most sportsbooks. Total bettors saw the number open in the area of 5, depending on the book.

Power Rankings:
It's a hockey betting matchup between the No. 7-rated Rangers and the No. 14-ranked Senators, according to the latest NHL power poll here at Odds Shark.



How They Match Up:
Offensively, the game matches up New York's No. 13-ranked offense (2.8 goals per game) against a Senators defense that ranks No. 24 at 2.9 goals per game allowed. The Rangers Sportsbook has clicked at a 15.7% rate while the Senators have a 81.6% rate on the penalty kill.

Ottawa was a 4-2 loser in its last match on the road against the Devils. They lost as +130 underdogs, while the total score of 6 made Sportsbooks of OVER bettors.

Last time out for New York, they were a 4-1 loser as they battled the Capitals at home. Moneyline bettors who got the Capitals at +145 were rewarded, while the 5 combined goals moved the game PUSH for totals bettors.


Ottawa Senators Trends:
When playing on Thursday are 5-5
Before playing Boston are 6-4
After playing New Jersey are 6-4
After a loss are 4-6

New York Rangers Trends:
When playing on Thursday are 6-4
Before playing Florida are 5-5
After playing Washington are 5-5
After a loss are 6-4

A few Senators at Rangers trends to consider:
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Ottawa's last 5 games on the road
Ottawa is 5-0 SU in their last 5 games when playing on the road against NY Rangers
The total has gone UNDER in 9 of Ottawa's last 11 games when playing on the road against NY Rangers
Ottawa is 4-1 SU in their last 5 games when playing NY Rangers
The total has gone UNDER in 9 of the NY Rangers last 11 games when playing at home against Ottawa
NY Rangers are 1-4 SU in their last 5 games when playing Ottawa
NY Rangers are 0-5 SU in their last 5 games when playing at home against Ottawa


Next up:
Ottawa at NY Rangers, Saturday, April 14