Henrik Lundqvist was on the hook for four of those goals before he was relieved in favor of Antti Raanta, who allowed a pair of goals himself on seven shots in taking the loss.
The lone positive for the Rangers Friday was the line of Derek Stepan between Chris Kreider and Mats Zuccarello, who combined for three goals and six points in the loss. Kreider had a pair of goals while Zuccarello had three assists.
Teams are not permitted to practice during the holiday break and thus no word has been given on who will start for the Rangers against the Senators. Lundqvist is 15-17-3 with a 2.08 GAA and a .931 SV% with one shutout in his career against Ottawa. He is one win shy of passing Dominik Hasek for the most wins by a European-born goaltender in NHL history.
The Rangers will be without forward Rick Nash, who Alain Vigneault ruled out last week as he continues to battle a groin injury. Brady Skjei was a healthy scratch Friday night against Minnesota, having been replaced by Adam Clendening.
New York and the Senators met for the first time this season on Nov. 27 at The Garden, with Ottawa leaving the Big Apple with a 2-0 victory.
Ottawa comes to The Garden winners of four straight, most recently with a 2-1 overtime win over the Anaheim Ducks in Ottawa on Friday night. Mike Hoffman scored the game-winning goal while goaltender Mike Condon made 24 saves for the win.
Defenseman Erik Karlsson is leading the way offensively for Ottawa with seven goals and 24 assists for 31 points in 34 games thus far this season, with Mark Stone second with 10 goals and 26 points. Kyle Turris has 12 goals to lead the team. Former Ranger Derick Brassard has seven goals and eight assists for 15 points in 34 games.
With Craig Anderson missing periods of time this season while his wife battles cancer, Ottawa's goaltender has been by committee. While Anderson has had the bulk of the action by going 12-6-1 this season, Condon has started 12 games and has a record of 8-3-2. Andrew Hammond has appeared in four games.
Ottawa is currently second in the Atlantic Division with 43 points, just three behind Montreal for the division lead. They're 6-3-1 in their last 10 and own the third-longest winning streak in the NHL.
The Senators have been an average squad on special teams, with both its power play and its penalty ranking 17th in the NHL. Coincidentally, the Rangers' rank 10th in both power play and penalty kill.
