Rangers vs Senators: Rangers Start Road Trip With 4-1 Loss in Ottawa
Following a very impressive win over the Washington Capitals on Wednesday night, the Rangers came up empty tonight against the Ottawa Senators. Ottawa seems to have the Rangers’ number thus far, and picked up another dominant win this evening. Henrik Lundqvist got the start in goal for the Rangers and turned away 35 shots.
1st Period
Thomas Chabot (2) - Brady Tkachuk (6) & Anthony Duclair (5) - 0:57 1st Period
It didn’t take long to realize how this game was going to play out as Ottawa opened the scoring just 57 seconds after the opening faceoff. Thomas Chabot’s seemingly harmless shot from the left boards somehow surprised Henrik Lundqvist and flew over his shoulder. It’s definitely a goal Hank would want to have back, and it certainly set the tone early in this game for Ottawa.
Logan Brown (1) PPG - Jean-Gabriel Pageau (5) - 6:32 1st Period
The Rangers didn’t do themselves any favors early in this game as Ryan Lindgren was whistled down for an early interference penalty, and gave Ottawa their first power play of the night. Logan Brown was able to double up the Senators lead after he picked up his first career NHL goal on a quick wrist shot from the high slot. Jean-Gabriel Pageau setup Brown from the corner with a great centering pass after drawing three Rangers’ players to the corner.
Jacob Trouba (2) - Ryan Lindgren (4) & Tim Gettinger (1) - 17:20 1st Period
After the Rangers finally had some time to settle into their game after the early festivities, New York caught a lucky bounce which brought them back into the game. Jacob Trouba’s wrist shot somehow found its way through some traffic up high and deflected in off of Anders Nilsson. The shot was actually going wide until Nilsson attempted to stick the puck into the corner, but it wound up taking a funny bounce off of his stick and into the net.
2nd Period
Tyler Ennis (6) - Colin White (3) & Chris Tierney (8) - 1:11 2nd Period
Despite the Rangers finding a way back into the game, Ottawa quickly stole back that momentum early in the second period. Tyler Ennis scored an incredible goal after forcing a neutral zone turnover and dancing around Brady Skjei cutting to the net. Henrik Lundqvist didn’t stand much of a chance after the defenseman was beat, and Enni’s put Ottawa back up by a pair of goals.
Anthony Duclair (10) PPG - Jean-Gabriel Pageau (6) & Thomas Chabot (12) - 13:24 2nd Period
The Rangers penalty kill has quickly become a major talking point this season, and they allowed their second power play goal against at the 13:24 mark of the second period. A too many men on the ice call and a delay of game penalty on Jacob Trouba sent the Rangers down by two players for well over a minute. New York did a good job of killing off the first half of the penalty, but an extended shift gave Ottawa enough room to do some damage.
Ex-Ranger Anthony Duclair was able to wire home a great tap pass from Jean-Gabriel Pageau and beat Henrik Lundqvist clean from just above the hash marks. That goal gave Ottawa a commanding 4-1 lead, and that wound up holding as the final score.
The Rangers couldn’t have had a worse start to their mini road trip, and will look to rebound on Saturday night against the Montreal Canadiens.
