Preview: Rangers Hit the Road for Matchup With Senators

RANGERS at SENATORS, 7:30 p.m.MSG, 98.7 FM
The Rangers will face a repeat opponent on Thursday night when they face the Ottawa Senators for the second time in four days. The Rangers' message in between games is that they will not be satisfied with a repeat performance.
"The coaches really drilled home that what we did on Monday is not going to be good enough on Thursday," Kevin Shattenkirk said after the Rangers practiced in Westchester on Wednesday. "That's one hundred percent right. I don't think we're going to see the same Ottawa team, and I don't think we're going to be let off the hook as much as we were on Monday night."
The Rangers play four of their next five games away from home, beginning with a rematch against the Senators on Thursday night at Canadian Tire Centre. Monday's 4-2 Garden win over the Sens was the Rangers' 10th win in their last 14 games (10-3-1); they have points in four of their last six road games (3-2-1).

"I think we have to be prepared for a little more physicality from them, and really just a better pace of play," said Shattenkirk. "I think they're going to come with a little bit more of that speed and offensive skill that they have.
"I'm sure they're going to have a bad taste about how Monday went. … So we're going to be ready to go."
After breaking practice on Wednesday, the Rangers headed out on the season's first trip to Canada a little shorthanded. Vlad Namestnikov, injured in an open-ice collision near the end of Monday's game, remained in concussion protocol, and Mats Zuccarello was still nursing the groin injury that has cost him eight out of the last 10 games. Neither player traveled with the Rangers on this two-game trip.
The Rangers had 11 forwards and seven defensemen in practice on Wednesday; Quinn said he could be open to dressing seven defensemen for the second time this season.
"I don't love it but it is on the table," the coach said. Referring to Freddy Claesson, who was a healthy scratch against his former team on Monday, he added: "I want to get Freddy back in because he didn't deserve to come out. Like I've said before, we had to have a hard conversation with him because all these guys are playing well."
The Rangers, who on Monday completed a stretch of four games over six days, on Thursday begin a set of three games in four nights against Canadian teams, with the first two on the road - they visit Montreal on Saturday before heading home for Vic Hadfield Night on Sunday at the Garden, with the Winnipeg Jets in town.
Thursday's game completes something of a non-traditional back-to-back, in the sense that the Rangers' games against Ottawa are three days apart, and the Senators have played a game in the interim. The "big win" Quinn referred to was the Senators capping their four-game road trip with a much-needed come-from-behind win on Tuesday in Philadelphia, ending a four-game losing streak that included Monday's loss at the Garden.
The Senators trailed 3-1 in Philly before scoring three times in the last 8:28 of the third, with rookie Brady Tkachuk scoring twice to tie and Matt Duchene netting the game-winner.
Monday's Rangers-Sens game was a game that "no one really grabbed by the horns and really ran with," Shattenkirk said - until the third period when the Rangers got goals 4:52 apart from Lias Andersson (his first of the season) and Chris Kreider (off a 2-on-1 dish from Filip Chytil). The Senators had two shots on goal over the first 15 minutes of the period before mounting a late push, scoring a 6-on-5 goal to get as close as 3-2.

"They play kind of a waiting game and jump on your mistakes," said Kevin Hayes, who took part in some 6-on-5 work toward the end of Wednesday's practice. "If you play smart 5-on-5 hockey and get pucks deep, you should make it a long night for them."
The final two minutes of that game also included an empty-net goal by Mika Zibanejad, which came just after the scary center-ice collision between Namestnikov and Sens second-year defenseman Thomas Chabot, which sent Namestnikov into the dressing room before the final horn.
Chabot said Tuesday that he was looking down as he tried to pass a bouncing puck off to Tkachuk and saw Namestnikov too late to avoid the collision. "I was going full speed and it wasn't my intention to hit him that hard," the 21-year-old blueliner said. "Hopefully he's all right. It was just a split-second. I put my head up and he was coming at full speed. It was just a contact."

NUMBERS GAME

The Senators rank last in the League on penalty kills at 70.1%, but have killed eight in a row and did not go shorthanded in their victory Tuesday in Philadelphia.
The Rangers have lost seven straight games in Ottawa, including the teams' meetings in the 2017 playoffs.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Zibanejad was the Senators' No. 6 overall draft pick in 2011 and played parts of five seasons in Ottawa. The Rangers' alternate captain has played four games against his former team and has at least one point in each of them, including four goals (4-1-5).
Tkachuk ranks second among NHL rookies in goals (nine) and points (16), behind Vancouver's Elias Petterson (13-8-21). Tkachuk has played 14 games to Petterson's 21.

WHADDYA SAY?

"It's fun, it's still special - maybe not as much as the first time, but it's still fun to come back. It's where I started, spent a lot of good years there and have a great relationship with most of the players and still some friends back there. Going to be able to see them and hopefully leave Ottawa with two points." - Mika Zibanejad on returning to Ottawa to face his former team
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