Somehow things continue to get uglier for the Rangers.
After falling to the Islanders two days prior, the Blueshirts faltered again on Saturday, losing their third straight and having to pull Henrik Lundqvist in the third period in a 6-3 road loss to the Senators.
Lundqvist was originally planning to have the day off, but backup goalie Alexandar Georgiev had the flu, so the veteran got the nod. He allowed four goals in the first two periods and stopped 22 of 27 shots on net before being yanked.
Rookie Brandon Halverson, who was called up from Hartford as insurance after Georgiev came down with the flu, made his NHL debut replacing Lundqvist.
The Senators' Matt Duchene continued his hot play with two more points, including a goal in the second period, to give him 21 points in his last 19 games. The Rangers' Michael Grabner scored twice, giving him 25 goals on the season.
The Rangers are now 2-3 since ownership declared a rebuild last week following a 6-1 loss to the Bruins and have lost eight of their last 11 games.
The tone was set early by the Senators when Mark Stone fired Ottawa's first shot on goal past Lundqvist for a 1-0 lead just 1:03 into the game.
The Senators went up 2-0 at the 12:07 mark in the first period when Johnny Oduya was left wide open and he fired a shot past a diving Lundqvist.
The Rangers pulled within a goal twice and appeared to be gaining some momentum at the end of both the first and second period.
Grabner put the Rangers on the board with 3:59 left in the first period by pouncing on a rebound and flicking it through the legs of Senators goalie Craig Anderson to make it a 2-1 game.
After Duchene's goal 11:59 into the second period, the Rangers pulled within one again on a power-play goal by Mika Zibanejad.
Zibanejad found himself on a breakaway after Mats Zuccarello's pass was deflected and the puck was up for grabs. Zibanejad deked Anderson to make it a 3-2 game, but it was short-lived.
With 1:09 left in the period Mark Borowiecki wristed a shot in front of the net, which Brassard tipped in to put the Senators up 4-2 and killing any momentum the Rangers may have gained.
The Senators sealed the game, and Lundqvist's day, with a goal from Thomas Chabot, whose goal was confirmed by replay review after Lundqvist kicked it out but only after it crossed the line.
Pavel Buchnevich (concussion) returned for his first game since Feb. 1 and recorded an assist.
