Drake Batherson’s night started the right way and never really slowed down. By the end of it, the Ottawa winger had three goals and an assist, Jake Sanderson had delivered the winner, and the Senators had held off a furious New York push for a 7-4 victory over the Rangers on Saturday night in Ottawa.
Ottawa built a cushion early, survived the middle-period chaos, then answered when the game tightened late. Michael Amadio added an empty-netter for insurance, while Tim Stutzle and Dylan Cozens also scored for the Senators, who were outshot 27-25. Jonas Johansson, making his Senators debut, turned aside 23 of 27 shots.
New York got goals from Will Cuylle, J.T. Miller, Alexis Lafreniere and Pavel Dorofeyev, but Dylan Garand’s seventh straight start ended with 18 saves.
The Senators opened quickly and had a 2-0 lead in the first period after scoring twice in 66 seconds. Batherson started it by taking a pass from Sanderson at the side of the net and whipping a wrist shot past Garand. A little more than a minute later, Claude Giroux forced a turnover, found Fabian Zetterlund, and Zetterlund fed Stutzle on the rush for Ottawa’s second goal.
Then came the second period, where the pace tilted and the scoreboard filled up. Batherson restored control for Ottawa 1:47 into the frame, finishing off a rebound from close range for a 3-0 lead. The Rangers answered short-handed after a Cozens turnover turned into a 2-on-1, with Noah Laba poking the puck ahead to spring Cuylle, who beat Johansson alone.
Cozens made amends quickly. Just over a minute after the Rangers got on the board, he picked up his first of the season when Batherson’s shot deflected off his skate and went in. New York kept clawing back, with Miller burying a loose puck in front and Lafreniere scoring off a pass from Miller with 26 seconds left in the period to leave Ottawa up 4-3 after 40 minutes.
Jake Sanderson’s first goal of the season came at a crucial moment. Garand stopped Ridly Greig’s initial chance, but Sanderson buried the rebound to make it 5-3. The Rangers weren’t done, though, and Dorofeyev cut the lead to one with a snap shot and 4:28 left.
Ottawa finished it from there. Batherson’s three-goal night stood as the headline, and Amadio put the game away with an empty-net goal as the Senators closed out the win.
Despite Sanderson’s return, Ottawa’s power play never got going and finished 0-for-3. The Rangers, for their part, spent long stretches in the offensive zone in the third period, but it still wasn’t enough to complete the comeback.
One note that stood out: the Senators are now 24-9-1 when Batherson and Stutzle score in the same game.
The Rangers host the Los Angeles Kings on Monday, while the Senators visit the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday.
In Other News...
Senators Just Opened A Roster Decision Fans Should Watch
Kurtis MacDermid is back in the mix for the Senators after Ottawa placed the veteran winger on waivers, a sign he has moved past the upper-body injury that had kept him sidelined. The move opens a roster question for a team that has been managing the edges of its depth chart, especially with a player whose role has largely been as a fourth-line enforcer during his nine NHL seasons and 307 games.
What happens next matters for Ottawa because MacDermid is in the final year of his contract and sits in that familiar gray area between NHL depth and organizational flexibility. If he goes unclaimed, the Senators can free up cap room and likely keep him in the AHL, leaving the club with one more bit of maneuvering space as it sorts out the bottom of the roster. [Read more 🡒]
Senators Face A Bigger Test Than Beating The Rangers
The Senators got the result they needed against the Rangers, and they got it with a new face in net. Backup Jonas Johansson made his Ottawa debut and settled in well enough to help the club come away with a 7-4 win, a useful answer on a night when the offense did plenty of the heavy lifting.
The bigger concern now is what comes next on the road trip, where Ottawa may have to keep leaning on its depth in goal. Linus Ullmark remains on injured reserve and is expected to miss at least a couple of games, which turns a solid one-night performance into a more important test of how the Senators handle the stretch ahead. [Read more 🡒]
Senators Suddenly Face A Goalie Problem They Didnt Need
The Senators are heading into their upcoming road trip with an unexpected hole in goal after Linus Ullmark was placed on injured reserve because of a lower-body injury. Ottawa now has to make do without its starter for at least the near term, and the timing is less than ideal for a team that would rather be settling into its routine than adjusting on the fly.
Samuel Ersson and Jonas Johansson are the goaltenders expected to carry the load in Ullmarks absence, giving the Senators a very different look in net for the stretch ahead. There is some better news on the blue line, though, with captain Thomas Chabot expected to rejoin the club after dealing with an upper-body injury, a welcome boost as Ottawa tries to navigate the trip without letting the goalie situation become a larger issue. [Read more 🡒]