Senators stymied by Rangers goalie Shesterkin in loss

OTTAWA — Igor Shesterkin stopped 29 shots Sunday afternoon as the New York Rangers defeated the Ottawa Senators 2-1.

Ryan Strome and Artemi Panarin scored for the Rangers (32-13-5).

The Senators were playing the second half of a back-to-back, while the Rangers hadn’t played since Thursday.

Tim Stutzle was the lone Senator (18-26-5) to beat Shesterkin, while Filip Gustavsson made 31 saves as he made his first NHL start since Dec.7.

Despite being allowed to have 50 per cent capacity back in Canadian Tire Centre, the Senators were far from the halfway mark on this day with an announced crowd of 5,181.

Trailing 2-1 to start the third, the Senators looked for the equalizer and had a good chance with a power play midway through the period, but were unable to beat Shesterkin.

The Rangers had a late power play in the third to seal the victory, but Gustvasson was solid to keep the Senators within reach.

With just over a minute left in regulation Shesterkin nearly sealed the game with an empty net goal, but the puck went just wide.

The Rangers outshot the Senators 15-7 in the second and took a 2-1 lead as Panarin scored a power play goal midway through the period.

The Senators failed to generate much through the first 15 minutes of the second, but finally showed some life in the closing minutes of the period, but didn’t see anything for their effort.

A balanced first period saw the two teams exchange goals.

Stutzle opened the scoring at the four-minute mark as he took advantage of a Rangers turnover and wristed a shot past Shesterkin.

Just over three minutes later Braden Schneider fired a shot from the point and while it didn’t get through, Strome was able to pick it up and beat Gustavsson for his tenth of the season.

This report