Ottawa,ON – A strong performance from its defensemen propelled the New York Rangers to a 3-2 road victory over the Ottawa Senators on Saturday night. The Rangers’ blue line contributed significantly to the offensive attack, bringing their season total to 16 goals – fifth-most in the NHL.
The Rangers established control early, building a 2-0 lead before the midpoint of the first period. Artemi Panarin initiated the scoring sequence, securing possession along the boards and setting up a rush involving Mika Zibanejad and Alexis Lafrenière. Zibanejad capitalized, netting his team-leading 10th goal of the season past senators goaltender Leevi meriläinen. Gavrikov extended the lead to 2-0 at the 9:45 mark wiht his third goal in the last four games, a shot to the top far corner.
Ottawa responded with two power-play goals. Dylan Cozens scored in the first period, and brady Tkachuk’s one-timer, deflected off Drake Batherson, narrowed the gap late in the third. Despite the Senators’ push, the Rangers held on for the win.
“Ottawa made a push in the third, the first half of the third period, I thought they came at us pretty good,” Rangers coach Peter Sullivan said. “We were on our heels, but we found a way. We dug in, we pushed back. We didn’t get rattled when they scored the power-play goal to get within one goal. We just kept trying to play the game the right way. I thought it was a pretty good effort.”
Panarin also reached a career milestone, scoring an empty-net goal to record his 900th career point.