Bishop stops 25 as Senators dump Rangers
Posted March 8, 2012 10:12 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
THE CANADIAN PRESS
OTTAWA — Ben Bishop made 25 saves in his home debut with the Senators as Ottawa defeated the New York Rangers 4-1 Thursday night.
Nick Foligno had the winner, while Zack Smith, Kyle Turris and Jason Spezza, with an empty net goal, also scored for the Senators (36-25-8).
Ryan Callahan scored the lone goal for the Eastern Conference-leading Rangers (42-17-7). Martin Biron faced 21 shots.
The Senators are three points behind sixth-place New Jersey in the Eastern Conference standings and eight points up on eighth-place Washington and Winnipeg. The Jets played later Thursday.
With just seven shots through two periods the Senators rarely tested Biron, but they took advantage of a number of rebounds to earn this victory.
Turris scored his eighth of the season as he jumped on the rebound of Alfredsson’s shot from the point to give the Senators a 3-1 lead early in the third.
Spezza rounded out the scoring with an empty-net goal with just over a minute remaining in regulation.
Despite being outshot 9-3 in the second the Senators managed to hold their own against the conference-leading Rangers thanks to the play of Bishop, who was making just his second with the Senators.
The 25-year-old made a number of big saves, including a great stop on Ruslan Fedotenko late in the period.
Bishop looked a little nervous to start the game as the Rangers opened the scoring at the four-minute mark. Callahan tipped a pass from Brad Richards into an open net as he caught Bishop moving.
The lead was short-lived as Smith, scoring his first goal in 13 games, fired a slapshot from the top of the left faceoff circle to beat Biron.
With just over a minute left in the first period Foligno banged home a Jim O’Brien rebound to give the Senators a 2-1 lead. This was just Foligno’s third goal of 2012, and the first that wasn’t an empty-netter.
The Senators split the season series with the Rangers at two wins each.
.Notes: The Senators were without G Craig Anderson (finger, indefinitely), C Peter Regin (shoulder, out for season), C Jesse Winchester (concussion, indefinitely). D Matt Carkner RW Bobby Butler and C Zenon Konopka were a healthy scratch. The Rangers were without D Michael Sauer (concussion, indefinitely) and C Brandon Dubinsky (broken nose, day-to-day). D Steve Eminger and D Jeff Woywitka were a healthy scratch.
