Drake Batherson (hat trick), Senators too strong for Rangers
Drake Batherson scored a hat trick and added an assist as the Ottawa Senators topped the visiting New York Rangers 7-4 on Saturday night.
Jake Sanderson tallied one goal and added two assists, while Dylan Cozens and Michael Amadio each scored and chipped in a helper for Ottawa. Tim Stutzle also found the back of the net as the Senators improved to 5-2-0 on home ice.
Jonas Johansson, making his Senators and season debut, made 24 saves.
J.T. Miller and Will Cuylle each scored and added an assist, and Alexis Lafreniere and Pavel Dorofeyev also scored for the Rangers, who are 1-3-1 in their last five.
Adam Fox and Noah Laba each added a pair of helpers, and Dylan Garand stopped 17 shots for New York.
Trailing 5-3, Dorofeyev got the Rangers to within one, one-timing a Cuylle feed past Johansson for his third goal this season at 15:32 of the third.
Amadio scored into an empty net with 1:14 remaining for his third of the season.
Batherson completed the hat trick with an empty-netter at 19:48 of the third.
Sanderson gave the Senators a 5-3 lead at 13:38 of the third, backhanding the rebound off Ridly Greig's shot for his first of the season.
Lafreniere pulled the Rangers to 4-3 with 26 seconds remaining in the second period, snapping home a 2-on-1 feed from Miller for his ninth of the season.
Trailing 4-1, New York cut the lead in half as Miller batted home a bouncing puck for his third of the season at 12:54 of the second period.
The Senators took a 4-1 lead at 11:21 as Batherson's centering pass directed off Cozens' skate and past Garand.
Cuylle got the Rangers on the board, short-handed, at the midway mark of the second, snapping a Laba feed past Johansson.
Batherson added his second of the night to give the Sens a 3-0 lead at 1:47 of the middle frame, putting home the rebound off Cozens' shot.
The Senators jumped out to an early 2-0 lead, scoring twice in a 1:06 span of the first period.
Ottawa opened the scoring at 5:33 of the first as Batherson snapped a Sanderson feed short-side past Garand.
Stutzle doubled the Senators' lead at 6:39, tapping in a cross-ice feed from Fabian Zetterlund.