Rangers tie 70-year-old mark for shot futility in 2-1 loss to Senators: takeaways
Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images On a night that began by celebrating one of the most productive scorers in franchise history, the New York Rangers tied a dubious franchise record when they recorded just nine shots on goal in a 2-1 loss to the Ottawa Senators at Madison Square Garden on Monday. After Mika Zibanejad was joined on the ice by his parents, wife, and daughter, and received a silver stick for playing his 1,000th NHL game, the 32-year-old led the Rangers with three shots on goal in his milestone contest, ironically against the team that drafted him sixth overall in 2011. Mika Zibanejad’s tribute video from the Rangers to reaching 1000 games played pic.
twitter. com/yz9rq8IoaK — Rangers Videos (@SNYRangers) March 23, 2026 That Zibanejad’s teammates slept-walked through most of the contest and managed only six other shots on goal, was fairly excruciating to watch. The nine shots equaled a Rangers record for futility, originally set more than 70 years ago in a December 11, 1955 game against the Detroit Red Wings.
If not for Igor Shesterkin, who finished with 31 saves, the Rangers (28-34-9) would’ve been blown out of this game by the hungrier Senators. It clearly looked like what it was: the last-place Rangers are playing out the string in a massively disappointing season; the desperate Senators snagged two valuable standings points and are now two points out of the second wild card in the Eastern Conference . The Rangers were out-shot 13-2 in each of the first two periods, yet Shesterkin surrendered only one goal in the first period and another in the second.
So, their deficit was a manageable 2-0 heading into period number three. Long Island’s own Shane Pinto scored a power-play goal at 6:30 of the first period, whipping a quick shot from the slot between Shesterkin’s pads after taking a feed from Claude Giroux. The shots on goal were 5-0 Ottawa at that point, and by time New York actually managed its first shot on goal, 13:49 ticked off the game clock in the opening period.
That’s after Ottawa already pumped 11 shots at Shesterkin, and rang the post twice. Jordan Spence wired a right-wing shot off iron at 8:44, and Tyler Kleven slapped one from left wing that clanged off where the post and cross-bar come together at 11:40. The Senators cashed in a Connor Mackey turnover to make it 2-0 at 6:46 of the second period.
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