The New York Rangers left Ottawa with plenty to sort through after a 7-4 loss that featured a Drake Batherson hat trick, an early hole, and a late push that never quite turned into a rally.
Batherson set the tone fast, scoring twice in the first half of the game and finishing off the hat trick late as the Senators kept finding answers every time the Rangers started to claw back. Tim Stützle, Dylan Cozens, Jake Sanderson and Michael Amadio also scored for Ottawa, while the Rangers got goals from Will Cuylle, J.T. Miller, Alexis Lafrenière and Pavel Dorofeyev.
Dylan Garand made his seventh straight start in goal for New York, while Jonas Johansson was in net for Ottawa. The Rangers were also trying to respond after dropping the previous game late against the Toronto Maple Leafs. A win would have pulled them within one point of first place in the Metropolitan Division.
Ottawa wasted little time grabbing control. Five minutes into the first period, Jake Sanderson set up Batherson for a clean chance, and Batherson made no mistake to put the Senators ahead 1-0. Not long after that, Claude Giroux helped spring Fabian Zetterlund into the zone, and Zetterlund delivered the feed that allowed Stützle to make it 2-0.
New York had a chance to settle things down when it got a power play around the midpoint of the opening frame, but that opportunity quickly turned into four-on-four after Pavel Dorofeyev retaliated against checks from Ridly Greig and was called for high-sticking. The extra space didn’t change much for either side, and the Rangers went into the intermission still looking for their first goal.
Batherson struck again two minutes into the second period, finishing off a scramble after Jordan Spence’s shot from the blue line was blocked in traffic and Cozens failed to control the rebound. Batherson scooped up the loose puck and buried it for a 3-0 lead.
J.T. Miller’s boarding penalty shortly after that gave Ottawa its first full-length power play, and Batherson had a chance to complete the hat trick there, but the Rangers’ penalty kill held firm. Even with that, the second period continued to tilt Ottawa’s way as New York had trouble cleanly exiting its zone and keeping the Senators from settling in.
Then the Rangers finally got a break. Sean Durzi went off for interference near the middle of the period, but it was New York that cashed in shorthanded.
Adam Fox blocked a shot, Noah Laba and Will Cuylle broke out on a two-on-one, and Laba slipped Cuylle a pass that led to the Rangers’ first goal of the night. New York killed off the rest of the penalty and suddenly had life.
That didn’t last long. Right after the power play ended, Batherson made another play from behind the net, slipping a backhand feed to Cozens, who tipped it in to restore Ottawa’s three-goal cushion. Garand, who had allowed more than two goals only once in his first eight starts, had now given up four or more in back-to-back outings.
The Rangers answered almost immediately. A Fox shot got through traffic, and Miller knocked in the bouncing puck to bring New York back within two.
With 5:21 left in the period, the Rangers earned another power play, and the coaching staff shuffled the lines during the period, moving Oliver Bjorkstrand up to the second line, Dorofeyev down to the third and Eeli Tolvanen to the fourth. The man advantage didn’t produce, though the Rangers did get one more opening before the period ended.
After Batherson and Vladislav Gavrikov were sent off in a four-on-four sequence, Lafrenière scored with 26 seconds left, finishing a play started by Miller to trim the deficit to 4-3 heading into the third.
New York kept pressing in the final period, but Ottawa kept the one-goal edge intact long enough to make the Rangers pay. About halfway through the third, the Rangers’ fourth line put together a long shift without producing the equalizer, and with 6:23 left, Sanderson pushed the Senators ahead 5-3 after Greig’s rush chance created a rebound Garand couldn’t control.
The Rangers still weren’t done. Dorofeyev, who had been demoted earlier in the game, scored after Cuylle did the heavy lifting to win possession and send the puck to him near the left side of the net. That goal cut the margin back to one and kept New York breathing.
The pressure kept building. Lafrenière hit the post soon after, and Gabe Perreault had a look as the Rangers refused to go away. Garand came out for an extra attacker with 1:46 remaining, and Ottawa nearly iced the game from distance before Amadio beat the Rangers to a loose puck and scored into the empty net for a 6-4 Senators lead.
New York used its timeout with 1:13 left and pulled Garand again, but Batherson delivered the final punch. With 11.9 seconds remaining, his shot off a blocked Fox attempt bounced into the empty net to complete the hat trick and seal a 7-4 Ottawa win.
The Rangers head back home for their next game Monday at Madison Square Garden against Artemi Panarin and the Los Angeles Kings.
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