Panarin scores empty-net goal to lift Rangers to 4-2 win over Senators

OTTAWA — The New York Rangers improved their league-leading road record with a 4-2 win over the Ottawa Senators on Thursday night.

The Rangers (15-12-2) are 12-4-1 on the road and have a league-high 58 goals away from home.

Trailing 3-1, the Senators (13-10-4) took advantage of a power play midway through the third period. Brady Tkachuk put a shot on goal that redirected off Drake Batherson’s shin pad and beat Igor Shesterkin, who made 25 stops.

Artemi Panarin iced the win with an empty-net goal with 44 seconds remaining.

The Rangers opened the scoring early in the first period with J.T. Miller feeding Mika Zibanejad for his 10th goal of the season. Just over six minutes later, Vladislav Gavrikov beat a screened Leevi Merilainen from the faceoff circle to make it 2-0.

Ottawa was able to cut the lead in half with a power-play goal. Dylan Cozens wristed a shot inside the far post with 90 seconds left.

Borgen made it 3-1 when his shot through traffic from the top of the slot beat Merilainen, who made 24 saves.

Takeaways

Senators: Already without two of their top defencemen in Artem Zub and Thomas Chabot, the Senators lost Shane Pinto in the first period after taking a hit from Zibanejad. Blueliner Dennis Gilbert made his season debut for Ottawa.

Rangers: The Rangers supported Shesterkin whenever the Senators found a way to push.

Key stat

Zibanejad recorded his 20th point streak of at least five games with the Rangers, passing Artemi Panarin (19) for the seventh most in franchise history.

.Up next

Senators: The Senators will host the St. Louis Blues on Saturday.

Rangers: The Rangers return home to take on the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 4, 2025.