THE MATCHUP

Ottawa Senators: 44-28-10, 2nd in Atlantic

Boston Bruins: 44-31-7, 3rd in Atlantic

Ottawa: Nobody picked the Senators to make the post-season, but coach Guy Boucher got everyone to buy into the program and here they are. Captain Erik Karlsson and winger Zack Smith will both return from injury, but the status of Marc Methot is to be determined. The Senators have played well defensively all year and that’s going to be a key in the playoffs. They make it difficult for the opposition to create scoring chances and get big stops from Craig Anderson. With a full complement of forwards, now is the time for the offensive players to step up to get the job done.

Boston: The Bruins weren’t great down the stretch, but they’ve avoided playing the Washington Capitals in Round 1 so that’s good news. Really, it’s going to come down to Tuukka Rask. Boston wasn’t able to beat Ottawa during the regular season, but they are a changed team under Bruce Cassidy. He has tried to allow the Bruins to play a little more offensively. Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron have both won a lot of playoff games so they’ll be relied on for leadership. These are not going to be high-scoring games. The winner will have to play smart in their own end. Season series: Senators won 4- 0

All- time playoff series: First meeting

Who wins? This is likely the matchup the Senators wanted because facing the Toronto Maple Leafs is a whole different test. First of all, there’s no history here, so the Senators don’t have to worry about that. This is the Senators’ best chance to get to Round 2 so they have to take advantage of the opportunity. Senators in six

Ottawa’s key player: D Erik Karlsson has led the charge all season and he has to do that in the playoffs. The Senators will go as far as he can take them.

Boston’s key player: F Brad Marchand can be a difference-maker. He’ll do whatever it takes to win and those types of players can win a series.

Senators lineup

Mike Hoffman, Kyle Turris, Mark Stone

Viktor Stalberg, Derick Brassard, Alex Burrows

Zack Smith, JG Pageau, Tommy Wingels

Clarke MacArthur, Chris Kelly, Ryan Dzingel

Defensive pairings

Fredrik Claesson, Erik Karlsson Dion Phaneuf, Ben Harpur Mark Borowiecki, Chris Wideman

Goalies

Craig Anderson Mike Condon

Bruins lineup

Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron, David Backes

Ryan Spooner, David Krejci, David Pastrnak

Frank Vatrano, Jakob Forsbacka-Karlsson, Drew Stafford

Matt Beleskey, Dominic Moore, Riley Nash

Defensive pairings

Zdeno Chara, Brandon Carlo John-Michael Liles, Adam McQuaid

Colin Miller, Kevan Miller

Goalies

Tuukka Rask Anton Khudobin