Rangers blow 2-goal lead in third, lose in OT to Sens

OTTAWA, Ontario – It was a big game, for sure. They all are now for the Rangers, as a quick check of their weekend schedule and the wild-card standings showed.

First up, the Senators here on Saturday afternoon, then hosting the Blue Jackets on Sunday – two teams the Rangers are battling for playoff position.

The Rangers lost to the Senators, 4-3, in overtime, at the Canadian Tire Centre, after the teams entered the day tied for the second wild-card playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

The Senators (32-25-5) have played one fewer game than the Rangers and now are one point ahead of them in the first wild-card spot. The Rangers are tied for the second spot with Columbus.

The Rangers took a 3-1 lead in the third and saw Ottawa then cut it to 3-2.

The Senators tied it when Michael Amadio poked a loose puck past Igor Shesterkin at 17:08.

Brady Tkachuk then won it at 33 seconds of overtime.

Ottawa nearly struck first when Claude Giroux came in alone Igor Shesterkin (33 saves) on an odd-man rush. But Shesterkin made the big save.

At 8:37 of the first, defenseman Carson Soucy scored in his Rangers debut.

Soucy took a pass from Artemi Panarin and shot from the left side at Senators goalie Linus Ullmark (20 saves), with Alexis Lafreniere providing traffic in front of the net.

It initially appeared Ullmark had stopped the puck, but there was some ominous oohing from fans seated behind the goal.

Sure enough, the puck had squirted between Ullmark’s legs and slowly crossed the goal line before Ottawa’s Artem Zub could sweep it out of danger.

The goal was awarded after a video review of the play.

Soucy arrived in a trade with the Canucks on Thursday for a third-round pick in the 2025 draft. The Rangers had gotten the pick from the Golden Knights earlier that day in a trade for Reilly Smith.

The 6-5, 208-pound Soucy, 30, had three goals, seven assists and 92 blocked shots in 59 games with the Canucks this season.

He is in the second season of a three-year, $9.75 million deal.

Coach Peter Laviolette said before the game he would pair Soucy with Zac Jones, with Calvin de Haan being scratched.

Why that pairing? “I like the way that the other pairs have played, so I’m going to leave those pairs alone,” Laviolette said.

Soucy was the last piece the team added before the trading deadline after a flurry of moves since the end of last season.

“It just one player at the trade deadline,” Laviolette said before the game. “We’re working to get him up to speed for the game today.”

Ottawa had chances to tie it later in the first period. First, Shesterkin stopped Brady Tkachuk on a backhanded shot from the doorstep.

Then, with Soucy off for roughing, Dylan Cozens and Shane Pinto both were unable to solve Shesterkin from in close.

In the final seconds of the power play, there was a scramble in front of the Rangers net, and fans believed the puck had found its way in. But officials ruled that it had not.

The Rangers made it 2-0 at 3:55 of the second when he took a pass and ripped a shot past Ullmark. There was no need for replay after this one.

But the Senators answered 11 seconds later when Tkachuk redirected a long shot by Nick Jensen. The puck wriggled past Shesterkin, and it was 2-1.

Ottawa had the better of the play for stretches of the second period, and midway through had a 20-11 edge in shots on goal.

Shesterkin was sharp, though, and ended a dangerous Ottawa chance later in the second with a world-class poke check.

It was a wide-open period full of good chances on both ends.

The third period began with an Ottawa power play because the Rangers had too many men on the ice at the end of the second.

The Sens put constant pressure on the Rangers, but Shesterkin was up to the task.

Panarin gave the Rangers a 3-1 lead when he came in alone on Ullmark and beat him at 7:08.

But the Senators answered when Ridly Greig poked the puck past a sprawled Shesterkin at 10:16 to make it 3-2.

Notes & Quotes: Chris Kreider returned to action after missing six games with an upper-body injury. He was the left wing on the third line . . . The Sens honored retiring MSG Networks announcer Sam Rosen during a break in the first period. Pinto, who grew up in Franklin Square, appeared in the tribute video to say, “I enjoyed you a lot growing up and I just wish you all the best in the future.”