Game Report: Rangers Dump Sens 5-3

Your Ottawa Senators battled the New York Rangers tonight in hopes of getting their season back on track. For 40 minutes, the Sens had control of this game as they went into the third leading 3-2. Then the wheels came off as the Sens let the Rangers back into the game early in the third and then a costly penalty late in the game cost Ottawa. Now having lost ten out of their last 13 games, Ottawa is dropping in the standings and it does not look like they can pull themselves out of this tail spin.

The good news is Ottawa finally scored some goals and it was somebody other than Chris Kelly and Nick Foligno – who have scored the Sens last five goals. With three goals on the night, Ottawa now has seven in their last three games. This is an improvement, however, Ottawa still has only scored eight goals in their last six games, which can account for why they have won only once in that stretch.

On the positive side, Mike Fisher  and Jason Spezza lit the lamp tonight and broke out of the pointless slumps. Fisher notched his first point in five games with two goals tonight and almost had the trick. This was Fisher’s fourth multi-point game of the season as he continued his streaky play. With Fisher’s 9th of the year, he now has the most goals for your Ottawa Senators.

Jason Spezza  had a goal tonight for his seventh of the year. With his goal tonight and assist last game, Spezza now has two points in his last two games after going seven games without a point. Hopefully this is the start of Spezza getting hot and he can rack up some points because the Sens need him scoring to be able to have a chance to win.

Ottawa’s powerplay  finally came to life as it went 2 for 4 tonight and helped Ottawa build momentum in the game. Having been a sore point of late, Ottawa needs to build off the success of the PP tonight as they moved the puck all over the ice and got shots to the net.  

Matt Carkner  proved his heavyweight status as he took on Derek Boogaard after he laid a  hit on Jesse Winchester. Carkner nailed him good with a right and then scored the take down. Courtesy of HockeyFights.com.

On the negative side, Ottawa blew a third period lead  tonight and it cost them the game. Chris Neil took a useless charging penalty that led to the powerplay go ahead goal for the Rangers. Discipline was an issue tonight as Ottawa took five penalties and the last one bit them in the ass.

Goal tending was also an issue tonight. Brian Elliott  has been solid as of late and kept the Sens in the game through 40 minutes. But in the third, Elliott let in two goals in on five shots to sink the Sens chances of winning this game.

Here are the game highlights  courtesy of NHL.com.

***Three Stars***

First Star: Mike Fisher – earns it with two goals on the night.

Second Star: Michael Sauer – for netting the winner and his first career NHL goal.

Third Star: Nick Foligno – for playing hard and setting up two goals.

The Sens don’t have any time to think about this loss as they take on the New Jersey Devils Friday night. This may be a good thing as a visit from the second worst team in the league may be what the doctor ordered for the Sens to break out of the slump. ‘Til next time, GO SENS GO!!!!!

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