Back on the road, the New York Rangers paid a visit to the Ottawa Senators for their first meeting of the season. The Rangers looked to build off their big come-from-behind win against the Dallas Stars Tuesday night as the Senators looked to do the same coming off a seven game road trip. Rolling with the same lineup, the Rangers would take care of business on the road, adding yet another win to their impressive road record this season.  

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First Period

After a solid start from the Rangers that included a great scoring chance for Sam Carrick on a partial breakaway, Mika Zibanejad struck first. A nice effort from Artemi Panarin helped move the puck up ice which allowed for J.T. Miller to lead the rush with Zibanejad breaking towards the slot. On a 2-on-1, Miller made a simple pass over to Zibanejad who was able to fire it past a sprawling Leevi Merilainen to make it a 1-0 game early. 

Miller ➡️ Zibanejad and the @NYRangers have a 1-0 lead! pic.twitter.com/RLiJo2UxcP

— NHL (@NHL) December 5, 2025

With that goal, Zibanejad ties Ron Greschner on the all-time list for seventh most points in franchise history. 

With his goal, Mika Zibanejad has tied Ron Greschner for the seventh most points in franchise history (610). #NYR

— NY Rangers PR (@NYR_PR) December 5, 2025

Ottawa had a Grade-A chance to tie it shortly after as Brady Tkachuk ended up in all alone on Igor Shesterkin who had to make two key saves to keep the Senators off the board. This was the start of a surge from the Sens as they were generating the bulk of the offense, spending more time in the Rangers zone. However, nearing the midway point of the period, the Rangers extended their lead to two despite only registering three shots on goal.  

A tremendous effort in the neutral zone from Noah Laba starts with him delivering a hit on Denis Gilbert, picking up the puck and patiently waiting for a lane to open up. Finding Miller along the boards, the Rangers’ Captain sent it to Braden Schneider at the point who dished it over to Vladislav Gavrikov. An absolute missile of a wrist shot went off the post and in to make it a 2-0 game. That’s four goals in the last seven games for the Rangers big free agent signing. 

Vladislav Gavrikov snipe alert! 🎯

And how about the work here from Noah Laba! pic.twitter.com/uOLbJZ5SI0

— NHL (@NHL) December 5, 2025

At this point, the Senators were out-shooting the Rangers 8-4, hitting two posts in the process. Somewhere along the way, Mike Sullivan made a subtle tweak to the lines, moving Jonny Brodzinski off the line with Miller and Vincent Trocheck. Brodzinski, of course, was replaced by Sullivan’s go-to man, Conor Sheary. 

With just over two minutes to go in the opening period, the Rangers took the first penalty of the game as Will Cuylle was called for holding. Despite having gone the last couple of games without giving up a power play goal, it only took the Senators 43 seconds to convert as Dylan Cozens ended up with the puck in the slot and beat Shesterkin with a quick shot to cut the Rangers lead in half, 2-1. 

At the end of twenty, shots were 11-9 in Ottawa’s favor. The Rangers had the better start, were winning more face-offs and had the one goal lead but they turned the puck over nine times and were being out-shot and out-chanced by the Senators who got their goal on the lone power play of the period. Worth noting the Senators—who were already missing several key players with injuries—were now even more shorthanded as Shane Pinto went down awkwardly and would not return to action. Unfortunate for the Long Island native looking to make an impression against the head coach of Team USA. 

Second Period

The Rangers got off to another great start in the second, out-shooting the Senators 7-2 through the first eight minutes of play. It was around then, the Rangers extended their lead to 3-1. A strong play from Brodzinski moved the puck to Carson Soucy at the point. Soucy delivered a beautiful no-look pass to Will Borgen who let a shot go through traffic to pick up his second of the season. 

Will Borgen restores the Rangers two-goal lead! pic.twitter.com/cyrbMz5srT

— TSN (@TSN_Sports) December 5, 2025

Here are a couple of fun facts pertaining to the Rangers and the offensive contributions they’ve gotten from their defensemen. 

As per John Giannone, the Rangers have 16 goals this season from defensemen — 5th in the NHL. #NYR https://t.co/ZtECSM2EjG

— Snark Messier (@SnarkMessier) December 5, 2025

With just under eight minutes to go, the Rangers got their first chance with a power play as Tim Stutzle was called for tripping. The five forward power play showed a little more cohesiveness but still struggled to generate any real danger scoring chances. Power play two got a brief look in the final thirty seconds but the Rangers would come out of the advantage empty handed. 

A bit of a scary scene later in the period as Trocheck was caught in a very vulnerable position and went crashing into the boards hard and awkwardly. He was a bit slow to get up and took some time moving his shoulder around on the bench but wouldn’t miss a shift as he was right back out there in the final minute. 

A better overall period for the Rangers who were now out-shooting the Senators 21-17. With the 3-1 lead as well as the edge in attempts and high danger chances, the Rangers were in a good position to shut things down in the third but the Senators wouldn’t make it easy for them.  

Third Period

Ottawa spent the first five minutes of the third mainly in the Rangers end of the ice keeping Shesterkin busy. Their best chance came from a give and go from Brady Tkachuk that sent Stutzle on a mini breakaway. Another scary moment for the Rangers as Stutzle blew a tire and crashed hard into Shesterkin but thankfully, Igor was fine and quick to get up. 

Nearing the midway mark of the period, a great defensive play from Borgen resulted in him getting the elbow up high on Mike Amadio as he returned to his feet.

What a big time play by #NYR Will Borgen pic.twitter.com/w7jscTmHIf

— Jonny Lazarus (@JLazzy23) December 5, 2025

With much better luck the second time around, the Rangers penalty killers went to work and were able to fight off the full two minute advantage. They would be put to the test again as J.T. Miller was called for a very weak slashing call soon after the teams returned to even strength. That would become a problem for the Rangers as a minute into the power play, a one timer from Tkachuk went off of Drake Batherson in front of the net to make it a 3-2 game.

We’ve got a game on our hands now. #NYR pic.twitter.com/rNfDt4i3dM

— Snark Messier (@SnarkMessier) December 5, 2025

The Rangers tightened up defensively and had a couple of chances to regain some insurance, including a post hit by Artemi Panarin. With two minutes to go, the Senators pulled the goaltender for the extra attacker and with 44 seconds to go, Panarin found the empty net after a couple of attempts to make it a 4-2 game. That would register as the 900th point of Artemi Panarin’s career. Not bad for an undrafted player.

BREAD HITS 9️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ CAREER POINTS! pic.twitter.com/pHb5sLJVKQ

— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) December 5, 2025

That would do it for this one as the Rangers win their fifth of their last six games and their third consecutive win on the road. An important pair of points to walk away from as the Rangers played another solid game from start to finish. They’ll face a huge challenge this weekend as they’re back at it Saturday afternoon with Colorado and Vegas on Sunday for another back-to-back stretch.