The Ottawa Senators failed in their bid to rally from a two-goal deficit, dropping a 3-1 decision to the New York Rangers Saturday at Scotiabank Place.

Jaromir Jagr and Martin Straka led the Rangers with a goal and assist apiece, while goaltender Henrik Lundqvist turned aside 34 Senator shots.

Ottawa Senators forward Chris Neil, left, pushes New York Rangers defenceman Fedor Tyutin into the boards Saturday at Scotiabank Place.
(Jonathan Hayward/Canadian Press)

Ottawa (15-14-1) lost for the second straight time in as many games. The Senators dropped a 6-2 decision in Washington on Wednesday, the club's first defeat since Nov. 26.

The win gives the Rangers (15-10-4) their second consecutive victory following a four-game losing skid.

"The last two games have been really good for us," Lundqvist said.

"It was a big game for us. I think we played one of our best games this year. [The Senators] were smart and patient, but this game meant a lot for us. I was patient on the shots. I felt I was in control of the rebounds."

The Rangers also loosened Ottawa's dominance in a matchup their Canadian counterparts have owned recently. Prior to Saturday's contest, the Senators won 10 of the last 12 meetings against the Rangers, including two wins at Scotiabank Place last season.

Jagr netted the eventual game-winning goal for New York at 6:07 of the second period. The Rangers converted on a 3-on-2 rush when Jagr cut across the Senators' slot and snapped a quick shot against the flow that sailed over the glove of goaltender Ray Emery. It was his 14th goal of the season and put New York in front 2-0.

"We played pretty solid, but Hank was great in the nets — he made a lot of big saves," said Jagr. "[Lundqvist] was the key. If you fall behind against a team like that, it's hard."

The Senators replied on their power play more than nine minutes later. Jason Spezza deflected a point shot by defenceman Christoph Schubert, beating Lundqvist to cut New York's lead to 2-1.

Heatley stopped

Ottawa had a glorious opportunity to square the game with less than a minute remaining in the second, but Lundqvist stoned Dany Heatley on a breakaway with a terrific glove save.

The Senators fired nine shots at Lundqvist in the final period, failing to beat New York's netminder for the equalizer in the waning moments of the contest.

The Rangers then put the game away with only 14 seconds left after Brendan Shanahan scored his league-tying 22nd goal of the season into an empty net.

"It was very good for us," said Shanahan. "They've got an excellent hockey team. We did a lot of things good defensively. [Lundqvist] was Henrik. We've come to expect that from him. Emery made some great saves at the other end and they came down and Henrik would do the same. That's what we need from him."

New York opened the scoring on the power play with less than three minutes remaining in the first period on Martin Straka's 16th goal.

Ottawa played without two of its key players on Saturday: Captain Daniel Alfredsson is still recovering from a hip injury and Wade Redden is out indefinitely with a chest problem.

Senators coach Bryan Murray admitted during his post-game conference that Alfredsson would make the four-game road trip the team begins in Columbus on Sunday, but doesn't know if his captain will play.

"I thought our guys did a good job of playing well without them," Spezza said. "You have to tip your hat to Lundqvist. We hit him a few times. He made some big saves. We played a pretty strong game. We had just as many chances as them if not more, we just didn't bury them."

With files from the Canadian Press