Ridly Greig's multifaceted game helps propel Senators past Rangers

That was quite the timely offensive explosion.

Playing in front of their third string netminder, the Ottawa Senators scored early and often, defeating the New York Rangers 7-4 at Canadian Tire Centre on Saturday.

Drake Batherson had a hat trick, Jake Sanderson had a goal and two assists, and Jonas Johansson made 24 saves in his debut with the Senators (8-4-0).

No time to waste. Let’s get to grading.

Down a man in the first, Greig went fishing for a call to even things up. Positioned just outside a puck battle along the end boards, Greig gave Pavel Dorofeyev several annoying cross-checks, provoking the Ranger to turn around and retaliate, getting his hands up high in the act. Greig also drew an interference call in the second. He was easily the most energetic member of the shutdown line, playing opponents hard all night, like when he slammed Adam Fox into the left half wall to get a clear while New York was pressing for the tying goal. After a few minutes straight of being hemmed in, Greig set up Michael Amadio on the rush for a slot shot and then slid it to Sanderson for a chance. Ottawa got its mojo back after that shift. A couple minutes later, Greig helped create the 5-3 goal, his net drive resulting in a juicy rebound for Sanderson to clean up.

Only six players in the league have more goals than Stützle’s eight — he’s on a tear right now. When Claude Giroux picked up the puck to start a rush midway through the first, Stützle was a step behind J.T. Miller, 15 feet inside the Sens’ zone. By the time Stützle hit the hashmarks at the other end, the Rangers captain had given up, allowing Stützle to finish on a centring feed to make it 2-0. His unwavering determination is on display almost every shift. This could be a special season.

It’s a treat to watch Giroux outsmart opponents. The wily veteran is getting the most out of his capabilities right now, using an array of tactics to win pucks in battles against much larger, stronger players. He’s also been dynamite on the rush, once slowing up upon entry into the offensive zone in the third to wait for the cavalry to show up, hitting Stützle with a cross-ice pass for a Grade A chance.

Another game, another reason why Zetterlund should continue getting looks in the top six. He took off almost as fast as Stützle ahead of the 2-0 goal, accepting a pass from Giroux at the far blue line in stride, shielding the puck to get by Alberts Smits and swinging it across his body for the tap-in at the edge of the crease. Zetterlund made a good block in the third — one of three in the game — for a key clear when New York was piling it on.

Forty-eight hours removed from the most frustrating loss of the season, Yaroslav Askarov’s save of the year must’ve still been on Batherson’s mind in some capacity on Saturday. The winger set the tone early with a big hit on Sean Durzi on his first shift of the game, and from there, everything sort of fell into place. Five minutes in, he got the puck in an eerily similar spot to Thursday’s robbery, but this time, instead of firing it towards the middle of the net, he picked his spot just inside the left post for the opening goal. In the second, the puck found him at the side of the net for the 3-0 marker, and he capped the hat trick off with one of the whackiest empty netters you’ll see. Batherson blocked Fox’s point shot with his shin pad and watched the puck carry all the way into the Rangers’ goal. As crazy as it is to say after a four-point night, he could’ve had more, recording three additional shot attempts from the low slot. The only blemish on his night came when he negated an Ottawa power play late in the second, retaliating for a high-stick with a roughing penalty of his own. The Rangers would score at 4-on-4 to cut it to 4-3.

After a sleepy first period during which he lost the majority of puck battles with a weak stick, Cozens’ picked up the pace in the second. And at that point, the Hockey Gods decided to finally give him a break. First, an accidental kick pass with his right skate found Batherson for the easy 3-0 goal, and 10 minutes later, Batherson’s no-look backhand pass redirected in off of Cozens’ left skate. The smiles and laughs in the group hug and on the bench afterward said everything. What a relief. At long last, he got one. There was one serious blunder, however. Ahead of the Rangers’ shorthanded goal in the second, Cozens had his pass blocked in the middle of the ‘O’ zone and he whiffed twice on the loose puck, allowing the opposition to go the other way on an odd-man rush.

As Will Cuylle re-entered the Ottawa zone with one hand on his stick in the third, Foegele missed a stick lift and then another one before Cuylle got it over to Dorofeyev to cut it to 5-4. He skated well and had good energy early on, but wasn’t close to as impactful as he’s been the previous three games.

Amadio was cross-checked by J.T. Miller a few feet from the corner in the second, thrown face-first into the boards. Inexplicably, the referee opted for a two-minute boarding penalty instead of calling a major and reviewing the play. Amadio took a beautiful flip pass from Greig for a partial break late in the third but he couldn’t beat Dylan Garand with a move to the forehand. His slip pass to Greig at the far blue line helped set up the 5-3 goal. Defending the lead with under two minutes remaining in regulation, Amadio stole a puck at the left point for a clear, and soon after beat out an icing call to score into an empty net to make it 6-4.

Pinto flew under the radar most of the night. Greig was driving the offence for the third line and Amadio had a few scoring chances, but Pinto didn’t do much with the puck. He took an ill-advised slashing penalty in the second.

Halliday took a hard hit near the red line to keep the puck moving in the first, allowing Nick Cousins to pick it up and skate in on a 2-on-1. Immediately after the halfway point of the game, Halliday was benched for around 24 minutes. His last shift was the aforementioned shorthanded goal off of Cozens’ giveaway. Halliday didn’t seem to have much to do with the play. He even backchecked hard.

Cousins had his wrister on a 2-on-1 rush in the first gloved by Garand. Taking a stretch pass with one defender to beat in the second frame, Cousins bought time for Burakovsky to catch up and then hit him with a nice cross-ice pass in a good area for a high-danger shot. Cousins didn’t play much, just 7:48, but his effort was solid on each of his 12 shifts, finishing with four hits.

On that pass from Cousins, Burakovsky ripped it high over the net. The first half of the game, his decision making remained slow. Transporting the puck through the neutral zone early in the second, he couldn’t escape the pressure of a backchecker and waited too long to move it, putting his linemates offside when he ultimately attempted a controlled zone entry. Burakovsky had some quality puck touches on a power play in the second. He still only has two shots in six games.

Recognizing how clogged the middle of the offensive zone was — there were five bodies directly in Garand’s line of sight — Sanderson found Batherson at the left faceoff dot for the 1-0 goal. The Senators’ breakout is completely transformed with Sanderson on the ice. Sure, his passing and skating enable him to swiftly, smoothly manoeuvre around pressure, but it’s almost more impressive when he uses brute force, ramming his way through opponents along the boards, sealing off the wall with his body to keep the puck moving forward. What a goal he scored in the third. After going down on one knee to block a shot inches in front of Johansson, Sanderson bolted up ice to make it a 3-on-2, crashing the crease to clean up Greig’s rebound.

Zub has some underrated poise and offensive awareness. Skating onto a puck at the left point, Zub dragged Luke Glendening with him towards the left half wall, made a tight turn and got it over to Sanderson ahead of the opening goal. He took a high-sticking penalty in the first.

While some smaller defenceman fall into habits of prioritizing self-preservation over puck movement, especially when recovering dump-ins, Spence has proven he’s happy to take considerable contact to get pucks to safety. The guy is durable and legitimately tough. Ahead of the 3-0 goal, he accepted a puck on his backhand at the point, swung around to find space on his forehand and ripped it towards the goal with his momentum taking him backwards. Spence finished with two blocks and two hits in 19:17.

There’s a reason why coach Travis Green only played Sanderson more than Kleven on Saturday. Kleven was a workhorse around the Senators’ net, blocking a team-high five shots and getting physical with opposing forwards hunting for garbage goals. There were some ham-fisted clearing attempts, but for the most part, Kleven did well executing high flips and outlet passes. And at the other end, he had four shots from the left side.

Matinpalo’s aggression and decent hockey IQ enables him to make darn good pinches at the far blue line, but he doesn’t have the skill required to turn them into much offence. He had a rough turnover in front of Johansson while trying to evade a forechecker in the first. After Kleven couldn’t handle a lob that bounced unpredictably in the neutral zone, Matinpalo needed three hard strides to stay with Gabe Perrault on a partial break before using his long stick and reach to swipe the puck away.

Yakemchuk’s active stick on defence made up for his below average skating, laying it on the ice to block a Fox pass in the second and proactively poking pucks away before attacking forwards could beat him wide. With all five Rangers locked in on Stützle at the left half wall in the first, Yakemchuk snuck down to the goal mouth for a redirection. He had a secondary assist on Cozens’ goal and three shots in 17:07.

Johansson made some strong pad saves, once getting his right toe on an Alexis Lafreniere rebound try in the first. Sanderson praised the goalie’s confidence to get out and play the puck in his debut; Green pointed out Johansson’s ability to slow up rims behind the net. While he made every save he was expected to — there were zero bad goals — it didn’t seem like Johansson bailed Ottawa out all that much.