Recap: Batherson’s Hat Trick Sinks Rangers in 7-4 Loss to Ottawa

The New York Rangers traveled north looking to bounce back after dropping the game late against the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Rangers' lineup mostly stayed the same, but recently signed forward Luke Glendening made his Rangers debut. Dylan Garand made his seventh consecutive start in net, and for the Ottawa Senators, it was Jonas Johansson. A win would have put the Rangers one point out of first place in the Metropolitan Division.

First Period

Five minutes into the opening frame, it was Drake Batherson who gave the Senators an early one-goal lead over the Rangers. Jake Sanderson made a nice pass to Batherson, which gave him a good angle on Garand. Garand was pretty far out of his net, making it a give-me for Batherson.

A few minutes later, Tim Stützle extended the lead to 2-0 for the Senators off a backdoor feed from Fabian Zetterlund. Claude Giroux made a nice play to carry the puck into the zone before finding Zetterlund, who made a perfect pass.

At about the halfway point of the period, the Rangers got a power-play opportunity to try to bring the game within one goal. Thirty-five seconds into the power play, Pavel Dorofeyev retaliated against some checks from Ridly Greig and was called for high-sticking.

While playing four-on-four, neither team was able to capitalize on the extra ice space, and the Rangers' penalty kill held strong to keep the game within reach. For the remainder of the period, both teams traded opportunities, but the Rangers failed to find the back of the net.

Second Period

Two minutes into the second period, the Senators pinned the Rangers in their own zone, and Batherson found his second goal of the game. Jordan Spence shot from the blue line, but it did not make it through traffic. Dylan Cozens got the rebound but whiffed on the puck, which took a bounce toward Batherson. Batherson then buried the puck and set off the goal horn in the Canadian Tire Centre.

Just under four minutes into the second frame, J.T. Miller received a minor for boarding, which gave Ottawa its first full-length power play of the game. Shortly into the power play, Batherson got a strong scoring opportunity but failed to get himself the hat trick. After that, the Rangers' penalty killers tightened up their play and remained perfect on the night.

Throughout the period, the Rangers had issues controlling the puck and keeping the Senators out of their own zone. Near the halfway point of the period, Sean Durzi was called for interference, giving the Senators another man advantage.

However, it was actually the Rangers who had the advantage, as Will Cuylle scored their first goal shorthanded. Adam Fox blocked a shot from the Senators, which gave Noah Laba and Cuylle a two-on-one. Laba made a pass to Cuylle, which left him one-on-one with the netminder, whom he ultimately beat. The Rangers went on to kill the remainder of the penalty.

Right after the power play expired, Ottawa restored its three-goal lead fairly quickly with a goal from Cozens. The play was set up by Batherson, who made a backhand pass from behind the net, which Cozens tipped in. After allowing more than two goals only once in his first eight starts, Garand had allowed four or more goals now in back-to-back outings.

Just over a minute later, Miller knocked a bouncing puck into the net for the Rangers' second goal. The puck came from Fox's shot, which made it to the goalie through traffic. With 5:21 left in the second, the Rangers drew a slashing call to send them to their second power play of the evening.

During the second period, the Rangers moved Oliver Bjorkstrand up to the second line, moved Dorofeyev down to the third, and demoted Eeli Tolvanen to the fourth line.

The Rangers struggled to get going on the power play, and with about 45 seconds left, the second unit came out but also came up empty-handed. Stützle snuck in a shot on goal but failed to score shorthanded. Batherson once again generated a scoring chance, but Garand stopped the puck.

With 1:13 remaining in the middle frame, Batherson and Vladislav Gavrikov both got sent to the box, which resulted in four-on-four play. This time, it was the Rangers who took advantage of the extra ice, with Alexis Lafrenière scoring with 26 seconds left in the period. Miller carried the puck into Ottawa's zone, and then Lafrenière beat Johansson to make it a one-goal game going into the third period.

Third Period

The Rangers started the third period fighting tooth and nail to tie the game, but the Senators held their one-goal lead intact. At about the halfway point of the third, the Rangers' fourth line put together a well-sustained shift but did not get a goal out of it. Time was running out for the Rangers to find the back of the net.

With 6:23 left in regulation, the Senators found a goal from Sanderson, giving them a 5-3 lead. Greig got a shot off the rush, which was stopped, but Garand couldn't control the rebound. That's when Sanderson came in to clean up the puck and make it consecutive games with five goals allowed for Garand.

As hope of a win was growing dim, it was none other than Dorofeyev who scored despite being demoted to the third line. Cuylle made a really nice play to gather possession of the puck and make the pass to Dorofeyev on the left side of the post, where he scored and ended his dry streak.

Nearly immediately after the goal, Lafrenière rang the post, which was then followed up by a chance from Gabe Perreault. Despite seeming out of it multiple times, the Rangers continued to fight. With 1:46 left, Garand headed to the bench to give the Rangers the extra attacker. Shortly after, Sanderson iced the puck.

Sanderson then tried again for the empty net, which once again went wide, but Michael Amadio beat out the Rangers and put away the empty-net goal to give Ottawa a 6-4 lead. With 1:13 left, the Rangers used their timeout and once again pulled Garand to try to get a goal.

With 11.9 seconds left, Batherson scored off a Fox shot he blocked, which bounced into the empty Rangers net. Seconds later, the game ended with Ottawa securing a 7-4 victory at home. The Rangers' next game is Monday at Madison Square Garden, when Artemi Panarin and the Los Angeles Kings come to New York.