The Rangers played very well in the first period, but could not solve Anderson before Ottawa got their own offense going. Jason Spezza opened the scoring 8:54 into the second he used Dan Girardi as a screen from the left faceoff circle to beat Lundqvist. The play was in transition after Artem Anisimov failed to get the puck deep in the Senators zone, which promptly got Anisimov benched for the remainder of the period.
Michalek made it 2-0 on another transition goal. After Brian Boyle seemed poised to tie the game before Jason Spezza got his stick in the way to deflect the shot wide, Erik Karlsson pushed the puck up the ice and found Michalek in the slot for the wrist shot that beat Lundqvist.
Spezza continued his work on the power play collecting his own rebound for the final goal of the night. The Rangers were pressing for a goal to get them back in the game, and it led to a 2-on-1 the other way when Spezza initial stop fell between Lundqvist’s legs, but Lundqvist had no idea where the puck was when Spezza tapped it in.
- Wolski was noticeable through the first half of the game and solid for his first action in weeks.
- Anisimov has to raise his level back to where it was earlier.
- Dubinsky and his energy was clearly missed at different points tonight.
