Despite holding four different one-goal leads on Saturday, the Rangers let what should’ve been a two-point night by coming away with only one in a 5-4 overtime loss to the Canadiens.
Back at Madison Square Garden, the Blueshirts didn’t let that opportunity pass by them again.
The Rangers scored back-to-back goals in a 3:02 span across the end of the first and beginning of the second period and were in complete control in a 5-0 victory over the Senators on Tuesday night.
Holding a two-goal lead after 40 minutes, the Blueshirts poured it on in the third, scoring three goals — including two in 56 seconds — to further cement their fifth win in the last seven games.
With the win, the Blueshirts continue to make their way up the standings, now only two points behind Ottawa and the Boston Bruins for the second and final wild card spot in the Eastern Conference.
The victory over the Senators was the start of a four-game homestand for the Rangers, who improved to 11-9-2 on home ice and are 4-0-1 in their past five games at MSG.
Matt Rempe scores first goal of season
One of the last players you’d expect to lead the highlight reel on offense for the Blueshirts is Matt Rempe.
And yet he did.
Not known for his offensive ability, the 6-foot-7, 241 pound enforcer netted his first goal of the season to extend the Blueshirts lead to 3-0 with the first goal of the third period.
Rempe was breaking straight to the net and received a beautiful feed from Adam Edstrom right on his stick, going forehand to backhand, lifting the puck up and in past Senators’ goalie Anton Forsberg.
The Garden was buzzing for Rempe, who recorded only his second goal in 29 career games for the organization.
Fellow fourth-liners Edstrom and Sam Carrick received assists on the most exciting goal of the night.
Before his goal, a full on line brawl broke out nearing the midway point of the game, with Senators’ captain Brady Tkachuk knocking over goalie Igor Shesterkin causing all players to go into a melee behind New York’s net.
Rempe was of course in the middle of it, going directly after Tkachuk once he saw Shesterkin also jumped in the middle of the action.
This comes after the 22-year-old Calgary native dropped the gloves with fellow enforcer Arber Xhekaj of the Canadiens last time out in Sunday night’s loss to Montreal.
Igor Shesterkin’s shutout streak continues
For a second straight start, Igor was perfect.
Three nights after shutting out the Blue Jackets on 27 shots, Shesterkin stopped all 20 opportunities for the Senators.
He now has back-to-back shutouts for the first time since Mar. 9 and 12 of last season when he recorded 54 combined saves versus the St. Louis Blues and Carolina Hurricanes.
Dating back to the Rangers’ 5-3 win against the Utah Hockey Club on Jan. 16, the 29-year-old netminder has been untouchable, making 61 consecutive saves and has not allowed a goal in seven straight periods.
After posting a brutal 3.43 goals against average (GAA) and an underwhelming .892 save percentage in December, Shesterkin’s returned to form in 2025, winning all five starts and posting a .943 save percentage and a microscopic 1.73 GAA in the New Year.
In the aforementioned fight, Shesterkin was down for a brief period before he slowly got up and started going at Tkachuk after he collided with the Rangers’ netminder, resulting in Igor throwing multiple punches at Tkachuk before the linesman stepped in to separate them.
Two Rangers’ goals disallowed within eight minutes
The Rangers got on the board multiple times before their third period flurry– or at least they thought so.
In the first two periods, the Blueshirts had not one, but two goals called back after they were both called for offsides on the play.
Late in the first period, Rempe was ruled offside, taking the Rangers first goal away until Alexis Lafreniere got New York on the board first for good, with the 2020 No. 1 overall pick scoring in back-to-back contests for the first time this season.
It didn’t stop there, as five minutes into the second period the Rangers were ruled offside after Chris Kreider entered the zone early this time. The second successful coaches challenge by Ottawa’s Travis Green came just three minutes following the Rangers doubling their lead to 2-0 when Arthur Kaliyev scored his second goal in seven games this season.
