NEW YORK – Artemi Panarin and Alexis Lafreniere were instrumental in leading the New York Rangers to a 2-1 victory over the Ottawa Senators on Friday night, with Igor Shesterkin making an impressive 40 saves throughout the match.

Panarin opened the scoring just 3:03 into the first period, netting his seventh goal of the season with a precise low shot past Senators goalie Linus Ullmark. Lafreniere extended the lead to 2-0 by converting on a power play at 2:56 in the third period, marking his fifth goal of the season.

Shesterkin’s stellar performance kept Ottawa at bay until Adam Gaudette managed to find the net with 7:32 left in the game, scoring his fifth goal after capitalizing on an assist from Brady Tkachuk.

With this win, Shesterkin improved his record to 5-2-1, helping the Rangers bounce back from a recent 5-3 defeat against Washington, which was only their second loss in regulation this season.

Ullmark recorded 16 saves for the Senators during the game.

### Takeaways

For the Rangers, this victory brought their home record to 3-1-1, while they maintain a solid 4-1-0 record when playing away. On the other hand, the Senators dropped to 1-4-0 on the road but retained a strong 4-1-0 record at home.

### Key Moment

A pivotal moment in the game occurred when Shesterkin made a remarkable glove save on high-scoring winger Claude Giroux with just 2:48 remaining in the second period. His defense continued to shine in the third period, as he stopped Josh Norris not once but twice during a power play, and he also executed a sliding pad save against defenseman Nick Jensen with slightly more than four minutes left in the game.

### Key Stats

Panarin continues to be a standout player, accumulating points in nine of his ten games this season, leading the Rangers with a total of 16 points. Notably, Panarin had an outstanding last season, finishing with 120 points, which included a career-high 49 goals.

### Up Next

The Senators will host the Seattle Kraken on Saturday, while the Rangers are set to face off against the New York Islanders at home on Sunday.