Batherson Erupts for Hat Trick as Ottawa Rolls Rangers 7-4

Drake Batherson put up 3 goals and an assist for 4 points, and Ottawa never trailed in a 7-4 win over New York on Saturday night. The Rangers clawed back to within one goal three separate times but could never find the equalizer.

Ottawa wasted no time establishing control. Batherson opened the scoring at 5:34 of the first with a wrist shot, assisted by Jake Sanderson and Artem Zub, and just 66 seconds later Tim Stützle made it 2-0 with a wrist shot of his own, assisted by Fabian Zetterlund and Claude Giroux. That first-period cushion — built in barely over a minute of game time — looks like the moment Ottawa seized the narrative and never let go. Batherson struck again just 1:47 into the second to push the lead to 3-0, and at that point New York was staring at a very steep hill.

To their credit, the Rangers kept answering. Will Cuylle snapped one home at 10:07 of the second to finally get New York on the board, cutting it to 3-1. Ottawa responded almost immediately — Dylan Cozens deflected one past Dylan Garand at 11:21 to restore the two-goal cushion, with Batherson picking up the assist. J.T. Miller pulled it back to 4-2 at 12:54, and then Alexis Lafrenière wired a wrist shot past Jonas Johansson at 19:34 to make it a 4-3 game heading to the third. Three times New York got within one, and three times Ottawa had an answer ready. That pattern, more than anything else, appears to be the story of the night — Ottawa's depth refusing to let the Rangers gain any real traction.

The third period ended any remaining suspense. Jake Sanderson — who finished with 1 goal and 2 assists — backhanded one past Garand at 13:38 to make it 5-3. Pavel Dorofeyev pulled New York back to 5-4 at 15:32, but Michael Amadio answered at 18:47 to make it 6-4, with Sanderson and — notably — Jonas Johansson picking up assists on that one. Batherson then sealed it with his third goal of the night at 19:48, a deflection with no assists, to complete the 7-4 final. Johansson finished with 23 saves on 27 shots for Ottawa. Garand stopped 18 of 23 for New York. The goaltending numbers were fine on both ends, but this game was decided by Ottawa's forwards — specifically one forward who looked completely unguardable all night.