Marc Staal and Dan Girardi each scored goals in the second period for the New York Rangers, which now lead the Ottawa Senators 2-1 after 40 minutes of play in Game 7 of a Eastern Conference quarterfinal contest at Madison Square Garden. The winner advance to the conference semifinals.
Staal scored the games' first goal just four minutes into the second period on a one-timer setup by Derek Stepan, who dished out a nice, cross-ice assists between the legs of Sens' defender Sergei Gonchar. Girardi scored on a slap-shot three minutes later to give New York a 2-0 advantage.
The Senators answered with a power-play goal by Daniel Alfredsson, who capitalized on a cross-checking penalty on the Rangers' Michael Del Zotto.
Overall, the Rangers out-shot the Senators 12-8 in the second period and now lead in total shots-on-goal, 20-18.
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