Crease cross: Rangers must clear Sens out of Hank'...

Crease cross: Rangers must clear Sens out of Hank'...

Bruce Bennett/Getty Images

The Rangers' Henrik Lundqvist has made 126 saves (1.97 GAA) in four playoff games against Senators, but series is tied 2-2 thanks to pair of OT losses.

The Senators left their game plan up on a dry-erase board in their postgame locker room Wednesday night in Ottawa, figuring the secret is out on how theyve deadlocked this first-round series with the Rangers heading into Game 5 at the Garden on Saturday night.

Get to net Physical on puck, the message read in black marker. Shoot P, or shoot the puck, and then those three key words again, this time all underlined:

Get to net.

The Blueshirts have lost twice in overtime despite never trailing in the series, but in order to regain control, they must reestablish a physical advantage, which begins by removing disruptive Senators forwards Chris Neil (6-1, 215 pounds) and Zenon Konopka (6-0, 209) from Henrik Lun dqvists crease.

We know theyve made a point of that as far as getting to Henke, 21-year-old Rangers defenseman Michael Del Zotto said of the traffic in front of his goaltender. But were just trying to tie up sticks, take care of bodies and stay disciplined. Theres no trick or anything, its just hard work and being disciplined.

Its also about strength, and the only Blueshirts blue liner that has consistently bodied the Sens forwards off their pivot is All-Star Dan Girardi, who has been on the ice for only one of the Senators eight goals this series despite leading all players on both teams in ice time. He also has three assists and leads all postseason skaters with 22 blocked shots.

Led by Girardi, Ryan McDonagh and the increasingly effective Brad Richards, the Rangers have somewhat offset the Senators 299-205 advantage in shot attempts by blocking an NHL playoff-high 96 shots, compared to just 47 for Ottawa.

The reason why there are so many bo dies in front is because we have a lot of bodies there, too, Lundqvist said after his teams off-day practice Friday at the Garden. I mean, they always have their guys there, but we always have guys in the lane and we block a lot of shots because were there. So theres a lot of traffic. I always have to be very active to try to find pucks, thats for sure.

Its also imperative to remove the traffic because more shots are not what beat Lundqvist. Its the quality of them. The Blueshirts netminder has made 126 saves on 134 shots on goal (1.97 GAA) and feels best when hes involved.

As a goalie, you feel good when you get some action, you get comfortable, he said. But at the same time, I think its good if you can minimize scoring chances. Thats what the big thing is if you can minimize scoring chances but still give up shots, youre in business.

Thats the difference between many of Erik Karlssons blasts from the point and Sergei Gonchars game-tying goal in New Yorks 3-2 overtime loss in Game 4 in Ottawa. Marc Staal, who has battled well most of the series, was bodied off a puck by Neil after a Richards faceoff win in the defensive zone, then didnt bump Kyle Turris away from the net before Gonchars shot got through to tie it 2-2.

The Rangers also must be stronger on the puck in the offensive zone to prevent Ottawa from setting up in their end.

It comes down to our offense needs to be better, Del Zotto said. We have to hold onto more pucks in our offensive zone, and thatll take time away from our end zone and less time to worry about those things (like traffic in front of the net).

Weve got to be a little better on the walls, myself in particular, said Brandon Dubinsky, who likely will remain on Richards left wing Saturday night as Carl Hagelin serves the final game of his three-game suspension for elbowing Sens captain Daniel Alfredsson in Game 2. Alfredsson has sat out both games since and will not be trave ling to New York for Game 5, the Senators said Friday.