Ottawa, ON – Kaspars Daugavins scored the deciding goal in the seventh round of the shootout to lift the Ottawa Senators to a 3-2 come- from-behind victory over the New York Rangers at Scotiabank Place.
Mika Zibanejad scored with 6:30 remaining in regulation to force overtime, while Ben Bishop shined during the shootout phase after being pressed into duty for an injured Craig Anderson. The backup netminder turned back six of the seven New York skaters he faced after letting up a pair of third-period goals less than a minute apart in his relief stint.
Anderson was forced out of the contest with an apparent right leg injury following a hard collision with the Rangers' Chris Kreider 1:43 into the third period. He stopped all 21 shots he faced before departing, with Bishop making 11 saves on 13 chances prior to the shootout.
Henrik Lundqvist came up with 35 saves in regulation and overtime for New York, losers of two straight following a 4-0-1 stretch, with Ryan Callahan and Ryan McDonagh accounting for the Ranger goals.
"I think you have to be happy with the point, but at the same time you're not settled or satisfied with that," Callahan remarked.
The Rangers, playing for the second straight time without injured sniper Rick Nash, weren't able to solve Anderson over the game's first 41 minutes and change, but the momentum changed shortly after Bishop was called upon to protect a 1-0 lead after Ottawa's No. 1 netminder limped off the ice.
New York capitalized on a holding penalty by Ottawa's Sergei Gonchar midway through the third period to tie the game. Marc Staal sent a long drive wide of the net, but the carom came right to an uncovered Callahan for an easy tap-in with 9:16 left in regulation.
Just 51 seconds later, McDonagh shot the puck through a screened Bishop from the left boards to put the Rangers in front, though they wouldn't stay on top for long.
New York's Brian Boyle was sent off for holding Zibanejad with 6:41 left to play, and the Ottawa rookie came through with his second career goal 11 seconds afterward by hammering home teammate Colin Greening's shot that was initially blocked by the Rangers in front.
After neither team seriously threatened over the remainder of the third period or overtime, Jakob Silfverberg put the Senators briefly up in the second round of the shootout before Callahan squared it on the Rangers' chance.
Bishop and Lundqvist were both perfect through the next four waves, though the Rangers' J.T. Miller had the puck go off his stick after faking out Bishop in the sixth round. Daugavins didn't miss on his attempt to go five-hole on Lundqvist on the ensuing try, however, and Kreider fired wide to the right to enable the Sens to earn the two points.
"We played a hard game," Senators coach Paul MacLean said. "When we went down I thought we played our best. We have great leadership on this team."
Silfverberg recorded the only goal over the first two periods, a shorthanded tally set up by Daniel Alfredsson's takeaway near center ice in which the Ottawa captain fed his young teammate for a nasty backhander that landed over Lundqvist's left shoulder 6:48 into the game.
Alfredsson came up with another big defensive play on New York's next power play, with the veteran blocking Michael Del Zotto's backhander in front of an open net later on in the opening frame.
Game Notes
The teams were facing one another for the first time since last year's Eastern Conference quarterfinals, in which the top-seeded Rangers bested the eighth- seeded Senators in seven games ... Nash also missed Tuesday's 3-1 home loss to Montreal due to an undisclosed injury ... Zibanejad's goal ended a 1-for-30 stretch for Ottawa on the power play over the last seven games and stopped a six-game stretch in which the Rangers didn't allow a goal on the man advantage ... Ottawa improved to 2-1 in shootouts this season, while New York fell to 1-2 in such situations.
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