The New York Rangers will try to return to their low-drama style as they finish a two-game visit to Canada against the Ottawa Senators on Saturday night.
The Rangers arrive on the heels of a 5-4 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday night.
“I thought it was a loose game, high-event. Not the kind of game we want to play,” said Rangers coach Mike Sullivan. “I just didn’t like our overall game. We weren’t stiff enough; we didn’t play with the structure we need to play with.
“The types of chances we gave up were high. We got some chances at the other end, but it was a loose game, not a game conducive to winning.”
Mika Zibanejad provided a goal and an assist while Alexis Lafreniere, Tye Kartye and Oliver Bjorkstrand also tallied for the Rangers, who are 1-2-1 in their last four and 1-4-1 on the road this season.
Adam Fox registered four assists for the Rangers and Dylan Garand made 30 saves but allowed the game-winner with 26.3 seconds to go.
“It was a little sloppy execution and not getting at least a point, letting one up late definitely hurts,” said Fox, who registered his third career four-assist game. “We were definitely giving (the Leafs) a lot of chances and Grade A’s, too.
“I don’t know if that’s the recipe for us to win games.”
Lafreniere paces the Rangers with eight goals. He and Fox share the team lead with 14 points apiece through 12 games.
In eight appearances this season, Garand is 4-3-1 with a .915 save percentage and a 2.30 goals-against average.
Saturday is the first of three meetings between the Rangers and Senators this season. The Senators won two of three last season, outscoring New York 12-9.
Ottawa caps its three-game homestand looking to rebound from Thursday’s 6-2 loss to San Jose. The Senators fell despite outshooting the Sharks 43-28.
“I thought we played a pretty good game; thought we shot ourselves in the foot,” said Senators coach Travis Green. “… It’s just one of those games, we found a way to lose it.”
Jordan Spence and Tim Stutzle scored for the Senators, who are 4-2-0 on home ice but have dropped two of their last three. Samuel Ersson stopped 22 of 26 shots.
“We did a lot of good things, but there’s some little things that, you know, with turnovers and everything, that they created opportunities and capitalized on it,” Spence said. “So we just got to move on.”
Stutzle has a team-leading seven goals and eight assists through 11 games this season. The 24-year-old has points in three straight games (two goals, two assists).
Thursday was Ottawa’s first game without starting goaltender Linus Ullmark, who left Wednesday’s game against the Florida Panthers with a lower-body strain and was placed on injured reserve.
Ersson, Saturday’s expected starter, is still searching for his first win of the season. In five games, the 27-year-old is 0-3-0 with an .835 save percentage and a 4.59 GAA.
Ersson is 2-3-2 with an .880 save percentage and a 3.17 GAA in eight career games against the Rangers.