DEFENSEMAN

Even at less than 100 percent, the Senators’ Erik Karlsson is the best skater in this series, a defenseman with unreal offensive ability whom Alain Vigneault says he’ll have to have a special plan for. Karlsson, who revealed he was playing with heel fractures, leads a tough group of blue-liners which includes Marc Methot, Dion Phaneuf and Mark Borowiecki, who missed the last four games of the first round with a lower-body injury and could be out Game 1. Ryan McDonagh had a tremendous first round and his ‘D’ partner Dan Girardi looked like he benefited from the time off he had in March recovering from an ankle wound. Brendan Smith was hard-nosed and much better than he was in 18 regular-season games with the Rangers since the deadline, shining along with Brady Skjei. Structure was a positive for the Blueshirts, who can still cut down a tad on turnovers.