That was the Rangers team that those who thought they would roll over the Senators were expecting to see. Right from the opening puck drop, they played with the speed and physicality that was missing in the first two games, and the Senators didn't do themselves any favors either. As a result, the series is now 2-1 in favor of the Senators, and it is the team in the lead that will need to make adjustments for the next game.

One of those adjustments might be to invest in a tether to keep Craig Anderson in his crease focusing on stopping the puck rather than ever venturing outside the blue paint to play it.

The Rangers came out and stormed, as you would have expected in front of their home crowd, and the Senators weathered that storm, falling behind 1-0 on a goal where the Senators defense parted and Mats Zuccarello had Anderson at his mercy for the icebreaker five and a half minutes in.

While they were still trying to find their game, Anderson put his team in a hole when he inexplicably left his crease to play a reverse from Zuccarello, missed it and couldn't get back into his net before Michael Grabner got the puck and completed the wraparound. There was no reason for Anderson to vacate his crease, because defenseman Ben Harpur was right there, and Anderson's presence only succeeded in confusing the situation and they both whiffed. That was a back-breaking play and I don't know if it had an effect on the rest of the game, but it certainly didn't help things from the Senators standpoint.

The Rangers played their most complete game of the series, and at times it seemed like they were playing with six players on the ice. They were blocking shots (19 in total) as well as forcing bad passes and picking off attempted passes.

Ottawa didn't do much to help themselves either, and you can point to a specific instance where a misplay or breakdown led to each Rangers' goal. The first goal was Bobby Ryan turning away in his defensive zone and leaving Zuccarello wide open. The second was Anderson's sojourn behind the net, the third was Erik Karlsson and Mark Stone getting tangled up at the Rangers' blue line allowing a 2-on-1, which essentially turned into a breakaway when Marc Methot misplayed it by overplaying pass and allowing Rick Nash a free lane to the net. The fourth Rangers' goal wasn't so much a breakdown by the Senators, but a pick play by Tanner Glass, kicking the feet out from under Dion Phaneuf that left the Senators defenseman down and the rest of the Ottawa players scrambling before J.T. Miller found Oscar Lindberg at the side of the crease for a relatively easy tap-in.

Falling behind 4-0, the Senators needed some spark and they got that before the second period was out as Bobby Ryan made a nice behind the back pass from behind the net to Jean-Gabriel Pageau, who buried it in the relatively empty net with Henrik Lundqvist still waiting for Ryan to come out from the opposite side of the net.

The Senators couldn't put much pressure on Lundqvist all night, and he was forced to make just one really tough save, sprawling out to stop Clarke MacArthur with his outstretched leg on a third period rebound. Other than that, it was a pretty pedestrian game for Lundqvist, who bounced back with a solid effort but the Senators made it pretty easy for him and his teammates did a great job of controlling the play.

Now there are also some injury concerns for the Senators, as Zack Smith left the game midway through the first period after playing just 3 shifts and getting sandwiched between a pair of Rangers' hits. Ryan also left after being hit in the leg with a Karlsson point shot in the third period. There were no updates after the game on the condition of either players or their possible availability for game 4.

The Senators are still in good shape, but I am not sure, even without the Keystone Kops miscues that led directly to Rangers' goals, if they have an answer when the Rangers playing at that level.

Ottawa has to ramp up its compete level to match the Rangers' intensity and make them earn it. The Rangers, whether you call it desperate or determined, simply overwhelmed the Senators in this one, and the Senators didn't have a response on the night. If the Rangers can put out that level of performance for 3 of the next 4 games and win, then you tip your cap to them and wish them luck in the next round.

Ottawa's response on Thursday night will be very telling about how the rest of the series may play out.

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