Senators 4, Rangers 1
SENATORS 4, RANGERS 1: Ben Bishop made 25 saves to earn his second win in as many starts as Ottawa kept pace in the Northeast Division at the expense of slumping New York.
Zack Smith, Nick Foligno, Kyle Turris and Jason Spezza each scored for the Senators, who moved back to within three points of the first-place Boston Bruins and remained in seventh place in the Eastern Conference.
The Rangers have dropped three of their last four games but still own an eight-point cushion over the Bruins for first place in the East.
Ottawa could not generate many scoring opportunities early on Thursday but did a solid job of executing the ones it had, scoring twice in four shots on goal in the first period.
After Ryan Callahan gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead with his 26th tally, the Senators struck 1:24 later. Smith took a feed from Erik Condra and blasted a one-timer past Martin Biron to tie it up.
Ottawa took the lead with 1:10 left in the first, when Jim O’Brien sent the puck toward the net from the left point and Foligno buried his 14th goal from the doorstep.
Bishop, who made his Ottawa debut with a win on Tuesday, made his case for more playing time with a strong final two periods against New York, stopping 18 shots in the second and third combined.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Spezza’s 29th goal was an empty-net tally with 1:27 remaining … The Rangers have allowed 17 goals in five games this month. They surrendered a total of 23 goals in February … Ottawa rookie LW Rob Klinkhammer recorded his first career point with an assist on Turris’ tally.