NY Rangers 5, Ottawa 1
When: 7:00 PM ET, Saturday, April 9, 2022
Where: Madison Square Garden, New York, New York
Referees:
Brandon Blandina, Peter MacDougall
Linesmen:
Shandor Alphonso, Jonathan Deschamps
Attendance:
18006
By Field Level Media
Chris Kreider scored twice Saturday for the host New York Rangers, who clinched a playoff berth and moved into a tie for first place in the Metropolitan Division by producing the final five goals in a 5-1 victory over the Ottawa Senators.
The Rangers (47-20-6, 100 points) will be appearing in the main playoff bracket for the first time since the spring of 2017. New York fell to the Carolina Hurricanes in a qualifying round in the summer of 2020, when the playoffs were expanded to 24 teams after the COVID-19 pandemic ended the regular season in March.
Kreider scored the Rangers' third and fifth goals to increase his season total to 49, which ties him for fourth-most in a single season in team history with Mike Gartner (1990-91). Jaromir Jagr set the record with 54 goals in 2005-06.
Artemi Panarin, Andrew Copp and Ryan Strome also scored for the Rangers, who tied the idle Hurricanes for first place while extending their lead to eight points over the third-place Pittsburgh Penguins in the race for home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs. The Penguins fell to the visiting Washington Capitals 6-3 earlier Saturday.
New York goalie Igor Shesterkin made 21 saves.
Austin Watson scored in the first period for the Senators (26-39-6, 58 points). Anton Forsberg recorded 28 saves.
Watson scored 2:22 into the first before Panarin began the Rangers' flurry with 7:28 left in the period, when he scored an unassisted goal off a Senators turnover following a faceoff win deep in the New York zone.
Panarin set up the go-ahead goal 6:56 into the second period with a nifty pass across the crease to Copp, who fired a shot over Forsberg's glove.
Kreider capped an end-to-end rush 2:09 later when his shot from the left faceoff circle sailed into the upper right corner of the net.
Panarin added another impressive assist to cap another end-to-end rush with 2:33 remaining in the second. He skated through the neutral zone, dashed by two Senators and cruised to the goal line before passing backwards to Strome, who scored from point-blank range.
Kreider capped the scoring with 2:29 left in the third period.
--Field Level Media
Top Game Performances
| Ottawa |
|
NY Rangers |
|
Austin Watson 1 |
Points |
Artemi Panarin 3 |
|
Austin Watson 1 |
Goals |
Chris Kreider 2 |
|
Mark Kastelic 1 |
Assists |
Artemi Panarin 2 |
|
N/A |
Power Play Goals |
N/A |
|
N/A |
Short Handed Goals |
N/A |
|
Anton Forsberg .848 |
Save Percentage |
Igor Shesterkin .955 |
|
Anton Forsberg 28 |
Saves |
Igor Shesterkin 21 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Shots |
Goals |
Power Play |
Penalty Kill |
Penalty Mins |
Face Offs Won |
| Ottawa
|
22 |
1 |
0-1 |
1-1 |
2 |
27 |
| NY Rangers
|
33 |
5 |
0-1 |
1-1 |
2 |
30 |
Upcoming Games
-
NY Rangers will play their next game at home against Carolina. The Rangers have a W/L % of .638 after a win and .654 after a loss.
-
Ottawa will play their next game at home against Winnipeg. The Senators have a W/L % of .346 after a win and .378 after a loss.
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