Senators 7, Rangers 4: Batherson Completes It Off a Block

October 24, 2026 - Ottawa - Adam Fox wound up from the point with the net empty. Drake Batherson got in front of it. The puck came all the way down the ice. Canadian Tire Centre had 7-4 at 19:48 of the third, and Batherson had his third NHL hat trick on a bounce he called a weird one.

The Ottawa Senators beat the New York Rangers 7-4. Ottawa is 8-4-0, three of five. New York is 7-5-1, two straight losses and four of five. Shots were 28-24 Rangers. Attendance was 15,034. Jonas Johansson, Dylan Garand, and Carter Yakemchuk are not seeded on AthX player pages, so those names stay unlinked.

Batherson had three goals and an assist. Jake Sanderson had a goal and two assists. Dylan Cozens and Michael Amadio each had a goal and an assist. Johansson stopped 24 of 28 and picked up an assist in his Ottawa debut after the Sept. 25 trade from Tampa Bay. Will Cuylle and J.T. Miller each had a goal and an assist. Alexis Lafrenière scored. Fox had two assists. Garand stopped 17 of 22. The two empty-netters did not go on him.

Batherson, on NHL.com: that was good. Obviously, a weird one, but I'll take it for sure. I think we started off really good. Thought our first period was awesome, and then obviously they kind of climbed back in it, and it was tight right to the end.

3-0, then Cuylle short-handed

Batherson made it 1-0 at 5:34. Sanderson to the slot, Batherson on the wing, blocker side on Garand. Ottawa coach Travis Green told NHL.com he loved the start. They came out and established the way they want to play.

Tim Stützle made it 2-0 at 6:40, scoring in his third straight game. Fabian Zetterlund found him driving the net. Tap-in. The NHL recap said it was his league-leading sixth first-period goal.

Batherson made it 3-0 at 1:47 of the second. Cozens kick-passed it to him alone in front. He lifted it over Garand.

Cuylle scored short-handed at 10:07. A blocked pass in the Rangers' end sent Noah Laba and Cuylle 2-on-1. Laba chipped it. Cuylle beat Johansson. 3-1. The NHL box leaves shorthandedGoals empty on Cuylle's row. The landing tags the goal sh, so AthX Engine adds the short-handed bonus. Cuylle told NHL.com the second half was pretty good and the third was physical, but the first period they got out-checked.

Cozens deflected Batherson at 11:21. 4-1. Yakemchuk the other helper.

New York to 4-3, Ottawa through the door anyway

Miller made it 4-2 at 12:54, batting a bouncing Fox feed. "They just were beating us to pucks, more physical, winning their puck battles," Miller told NHL.com. "And when that happens, ice seems to open up."

Lafrenière brought it to 4-3 at 19:34 during 4-on-4, burying Miller on a 2-on-1. Miller said he liked the fight at the end. We were that close to tying it.

Sanderson backhanded a rebound at 13:38 of the third. Green said Ridly Greig put the first shot on. Garand stopped it. Sanderson finished. 5-3. The Associated Press recap called it Sanderson's first of the season, which it was. The NHL notes said he became the sixth Senators defenseman with 40 career goals.

Pavel Dorofeyev one-timed Cuylle at 15:32. 5-4. New York coach Mike Sullivan told NHL.com he loved the compete and the fight to claw back. But it's hard to win chasing the game the way we did.

Amadio hit the empty net at 18:47. Sanderson and Johansson the assists. 6-4. Then Batherson's block. 7-4. The NHL recap said his three home hat tricks are tied with Dany Heatley and Marian Hossa for the most in Senators history.

Johansson: it felt great. It was a tight game. Could have went either way, but we came up strong at the end there. Sanderson: big win at home before a long road stand. Game's never over till it's over.

AthX Engine on a hat trick that needed two empty nets

AthX Engine (our projection and scoring system) scored Batherson at 16.80: three goals, an assist, three shots, two blocks, two penalty minutes. Sanderson is 10.70. Cuylle is 9.10 with the landing short-handed bonus (the public skater line is 8.10). Lafrenière is 8.20 on seven shots. Cozens is 8.20. Johansson's 24-save win is 7.80. Ottawa's club line is 23.40. New York's regulation loss is 1.80.

Fantasy points measure the box. Price is what traders will pay for Batherson after 16.80, and for a Rangers club that came from 3-0 to 5-4 and still left with two empty-netters. They move together. They are not the same number.

Track Batherson, Sanderson, Cuylle, and both clubs on the marketplace. Los Angeles visits New York on Monday. Ottawa visits Vegas on Tuesday.

*Sources: NHL.com recap, ESPN recap, ESPN box. AthX Engine fantasy points scored from NHL gamecenter box 2026020171. Information only; not financial advice.*