Not in our house
Rangers top Sens, stay hot at MSG
Rangers coach David Quinn has set a new tone for his team and the priority has been to outwork opponents.
Marc Staal, Lias Andersson, Chris Kreider, and Mika Zibanejad scored, and Henrik Lundqvist made 29 saves as the Rangers defeated the Ottawa Senators, 4-2, Monday night.
“It’s a hardworking team,” Rangers forward Kevin Hayes said. “If you are not working hard, you are not playing. That’s coach’s rules. We work hard every night and we are kind of building an identity here.”
The Rangers extended their dominance at the Garden, improving to 8-1-0 at home in their last nine games.
Mark Stone scored twice, Brady Tkachuck had two assists and Craig Anderson stopped 29 shots for Ottawa, which fell to 2-8-1 in road games this season.
“It’s tough to lose,” Stone said. “We are in the business of winning hockey games and right now we are struggling.”
Andersson broke a 1-1 tie at 3:26 of the third period after a fortuitous bounce. Ryan Strome’s shot deflected off the goaltender, then caromed off Andersson into the back of the net. The seventh overall selection from the 2017 NHL draft originally did not make the team when training camp ended, but has been with the Rangers since early November.
Ottawa challenged the play for goaltender interference, but the referee’s initial call stood.
“We just sabotaged ourselves,” Senators coach Guy Boucher said of his team’s performance.”
Kreider finished a 2-on-1 opportunity with a slap shot that extended the Ranger lead to 3-1 at 8:18 of the third period. Filip Chytil delivered a cross-ice pass to set up the opportunity.
Kreider has notched nine goals and five assists to help the Rangers build a 10-3-1 record since Oct. 30.
Lundqvist picked up career victory 440 and is five wins away from tying Terry Sawchuk for sixth place on the NHL’s all-time wins list.
“We played a hard game,” Lundqvist said. “We just have to realize what we are and what we have to do to have success. It starts with hard work and we have to pay attention to the details of the game. If we do, we can beat anybody.”