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Sliding Rangers try to continue success in Ottawa

Mar 4, 2011 - 3:54 PM (Sports Network) - The New York Rangers are on the cusp of falling out of the playoff picture in the Eastern Conference. After a winless homestand, the Blueshirts will try to right the ship with a fifth straight victory in Ottawa as they take on the Senators at Scotiabank Place.

New York netted just four goals over an 0-3 homestand, one that followed back- to-back road victories in Carolina and Washington. Last night's 3-1 setback to the Wild dropped the Rangers into the eighth spot in the East with 70 points, one back of the seventh-place Hurricanes and just two up on the Sabres.

Sean Avery snapped a 22-game goal drought with his first tally since Jan. 8 and Henrik Lundqvist gave up three goals on 19 shots in defeat.

"You can call it bad luck, you can call it whatever you want, but we simply must score more goals," said Rangers head coach John Tortorella. "A big part of [this loss] was not getting that second goal after we took the lead."

New York saw both Marc Staal and Ruslan Fedotenko return to the lineup, but remain without Chris Drury, Marian Gaborik and Martin Biron due to injury and also lost defenseman Ryan McDonagh to a knee ailment last night.

The Rangers are just 14-16-3 at home compared to 19-13-1 as the guest and they have won their last four trips to Ottawa. That includes a 5-3 victory on Dec. 9, just four days after losing a home test to the Senators.

New York has won four of the past six meetings overall.

With Biron hurt and Chad Johnson serving as the backup, Tortorella is likely to stick to Lundqvist tonight and that won't be a bad thing. The New York netminder is 6-3-0 in his last nine versus the Senators with a 1.43 goals- against average and his three goals allowed in the last meeting were the most he had given up to Ottawa since Dec. 23. 2007.

The Senators may have an answer for Lundqvist in the form of recently-acquired goaltender Craig Anderson, who is 4-2-0 with a 1.16 GAA in six games with Ottawa since being brought over in a trade with Colorado. Anderson beat the Rangers twice this year with the Avalanche, stopping 56-of-58 shots faced, and is 4-1-1 against them lifetime with a 1.16 GAA.

Anderson was in net last night for Ottawa's 3-1 victory over Atlanta, making 42 saves. Colin Greening scored his first NHL goal in his eighth career game, while Bobby Butler and Nick Foligno also scored in the Senators' fourth victory in six games.

"Every game is tough in this league," Anderson said. "Every team can win on any given night. You have to bring your best game every night. Obviously [the Thrashers] are fighting for their playoff life. They're just going to play a little desperate."

Ottawa is still last in the Eastern Conference with 53 points and has lost 11 of its last 13 at home.