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Sens and Rangers clash at MSG

Jan 12, 2012 - 3:58 PM (Sports Network) - Two of the hottest teams in the NHL will meet tonight in the Big Apple, as the New York Rangers welcome the Ottawa Senators for an Eastern Conference showdown at Madison Square Garden.

The Rangers are leading the East and the NHL with 58 points this season and have won five straight and 10 of their last 11 games. Ottawa, meanwhile, is fifth in the conference with 52 points and has compiled a 6-0-1 record in its last seven trips to the ice.

The Sens and Rangers have split a pair of meetings this year, but the clubs haven't faced each other since New York recorded a 3-2 regulation win in Ottawa on Nov. 9. The Blueshirts have taken three of five overall in this series, but the Senators have claimed the last four meetings and 10 of 12 in NYC.

New York earned its fifth consecutive win Tuesday against Phoenix and can post its second-longest winning streak of the season with another victory tonight. The Rangers went on a seven-game tear from Oct. 31-Nov. 15 -- that streak began right after a 5-4 shootout loss to visiting Ottawa on Oct. 29.

Derek Stepan scored in the sixth round of the shootout to lift the Rangers to the 2-1 home win over the Coyotes. Ruslan Fedotenko scored in regulation for the Rangers, while Henrik Lundqvist made 18 saves and has won a career-high seven straight games.

"We've played so many of them," Lundqvist said of close games. "Obviously you get more comfortable when you've been in the same situation so many times. Even going into the third, we knew what to do because we've been in the situation before. Being able to win those games is so important to your confidence."

The Rangers have won five straight on home ice and are 13-3-2 as the host this season.

The Senators have scored 11 goals over their last two contests and are coming off Tuesday's 5-1 rout of the Penguins. Milan Michalek scored two goals and Craig Anderson made 29 saves to help lift Ottawa to the easy win at Pittsburgh's Consol Energy Center. Michalek is leading Ottawa with 22 goals this season and he has four markers in nine career games against the Rangers.

Jason Spezza, Chris Neil and Bobby Butler also lit the lamp for the Senators, who are 9-1-2 over their last 12 outings.

"I'm real pleased with the way we won the game," said Ottawa head coach Paul MacLean.

Ottawa's Erik Karlsson, the leading point producer among NHL defensemen with 41, missed Tuesday's game with an upper-body injury. Karlsson was a late scratch against the Pens, but is expected to play tonight.