Lundqvist becomes winnigest goalie in Rangers history with 8-4 win over Senators

OTTAWA - The New York Rangers used a four-goal second period Tuesday night to defeat the host Ottawa Senators 8-4.

Derick Brassard, Benoit Pouliot, John Moore and Martin St. Louis all scored in the second, with the final three coming less than four minutes apart late in the period. New York took a 5-2 lead into the final 20 minutes.

Brassard scored at 8:56 then Pouliot beat Ottawa netminder Robin Lehner at 15:48 after taking the puck away from Jason Spezza in the slot as the Senators captain got tangled up trying to recover a pass in his skates.

Moore scored at 18:44 as he shot the puck towards the goal from along the boards after crossing the blueline into the Ottawa zone.

At 19:44 Martin St. Louis scored when his shot hit two Senators' players in front before beating Lehner, who allowed five goals on 26 shots and was replaced by Nathan Lawson to start the third period.

Lawson allowed two goals early and was replaced by Lehner with eight minutes to play after making eight saves.

Rick Nash scored a shorthanded goal in the first period for the Rangers (37-29-4) while Derek Stepan, Brassard and Nash, into an empty net, scored in the third.

Henrik Lundqvist made 16 saves in the second period and finished with 35 overall.

Mike Hoffman and Mika Zibanejad scored first-period goals for the Senators (28-27-13), who have lost four straight and eight of their past 10.

Milan Michalek and Bobby Ryan had goals in the third for Ottawa.

With just 14 games remaining in the regular season the Senators trail the Rangers by nine points for the final playoff spot and there are three other teams between the two clubs.

The night started well for the Senators as Hoffman scored on a one-timer from the point seven minutes into the game, and just seconds later they were awarded a power play when Carl Hagelin was called for hooking.

Hoffman was playing the point on the power play and he got stripped of the puck at the New York blueline by Nash who went in and beat Lehner far side.

The Senators levelled their power plays four minutes later when Zibanejad scored with the man advantage sending the Senators into the first break ahead 2-1.

Notes- Matt Kassian, Patrick Wiercioch and Craig Anderson were scratches for the Senators Tuesday. Scratches for the Rangers were Raphael Diaz, Derek Dorsett, Ryan Haggerty and Justin Faulk…Erik Karlsson continues to lead all NHL defencemen in scoring with 61 points. He also leads the Senators in scoring…The last time Robin Lehner started three straight games before Tuesday was back in early November. He won all three and was named the NHL first star of the week…Henrik Lundqvist is officially the King of New York as he became the winningest goaltender in the history of the Rangers with 302 wins, one more than Mike Richter. Lundqvist is also one shutout shy of 50 for his career…The Rangers have not allowed a power play goal against in their past eight games prior to Tuesday and were shorthanded 21 times over that span and had scored three shorthanded goals.