Ottawa's young guns got their first glimpse into how they'll have to play against New York in Thursday's 4-2 loss in New York.
The Rangers took advantage of Ottawa miscues to score three goals in less than six minutes between the end of the second and beginning of the third period.
CTV Ottawa's sports director Terry Marcotte says the Senators can rebound if their inexperienced younger players learn from their first playoff experience.
"They know now what to expect for Game 2 – a wild crowd in New York and a Rangers team that plays hard and forces mistakes," he said. "Learn from that and the Senators should be fine, keep making mistakes and it could be a short series."
The Senators had six players making their playoff debut on Thursday, including top-four defenceman Jared Cowen and first-liner Colin Greening.
However, many of those players won a minor-league Calder Cup last year with the AHL's Binghamton Senators.
"The glare of the Stanley Cup Playoffs should be gone after the first game," said Senators head coach Paul MacLean. "We were hoping we wouldn't have any of that with some of the experiences our players have had in our past, but it obviously was a factor at the start of the game."
Game 2 is Saturday night in New York.
