OTTAWA – Derek Stepan had a goal and an assist, Mats Zuccarello and Artem Anisimov scored 12 seconds apart in the second period and the New York Rangers ended a three-game losing streak with a 4-1 victory over the Ottawa Senators on Friday night.
Vinny Prospal also scored to help New York move into seventh place in the Eastern Conference, a point ahead of Carolina and five behind sixth-place Montreal. Chicago beat Carolina 5-2.
The Rangers entered the game on a 4-10-1 skid that dropped them to eighth in the East. On Thursday night they dropped their third straight at home, falling to Minnesota.
Henrik Lundqvist made 28 saves in his 11th consecutive start. Lundqvist, who leads the NHL with eight shutouts, lost his bid for another 4:56 into the third on Sergei Gonchar's power-play goal.
Craig Anderson stopped 23 shots for Ottawa. He has made seven consecutive starts, going 4-3 since the Senators acquired him in a Feb. 18 swap of struggling goalies that sent Brian Elliott to Colorado.
Anderson entered with a 1.16 goals-against-average and a .966 save percentage in his first six starts with Ottawa, allowing one goal or fewer five times.
The Rangers were immune to the hot goalie's spell, though, building a 4-0 lead before Gonchar finally got one past Lundqvist.
Prospal got New York underway midway through the first when he picked up the puck in the right corner while Sean Avery battled with Senators defenseman Chris Phillips behind the net. The former Senators forward curled around to the right faceoff circle where he snapped a low shot past Anderson 10:08 in.
A pair of quick goals in the second put a sudden dent in Anderson's stellar statistics and increased the Rangers' lead to 3-0.
Zuccarello drove the net after making a pass to Stepan from the left corner, putting himself in position to put away a rebound for his fourth goal 6:26 into the middle period.
New York's second goal was still being announced when Anisimov made it 3-0 at 6:38. Sprung by a pass from Ryan Callahan at the blue line, Anisimov drove in alone and deked to put a shot past Anderson for his 15th goal.
Lundqvist made a lunging save to deny Senators left wing Nick Foligno moments later.
Ottawa's Chris Neil caused a scrum when he crashed the net after Lundqvist made a save early in the third. Neil and Rangers center Brian Boyle were given roughing minors.
Stepan got his second point of the game with his 18th goal on the ensuing 4-on-4 when he drove in on Anderson and roofed a shot to make it 4-0.
Gonchar got his seventh goal after Matt Gilroy was penalized for high-sticking.
NOTES: Rangers RW Marian Gaborik (concussion) missed his fifth straight game, though he accompanied the team to Ottawa and skated with backup G Chad Johnson earlier in the day. ... New York D Steve Eminger, who assisted on Stepan's goal, played his 400th regular-season game.
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