Senators finished Rangers game with 4 defensemen — and set a defensive shots record anyway

The Ottawa Senators entered Monday night's game with the New York Rangers missing Jake Sanderson already.

They ended it without Thomas Chabot and Lassi Thomson, too, who left midway through the game with injuries.

And by the end, they had made history anyway.

The Rangers finished with nine shots on goal, tied for the worst mark in franchise history.

And it was the fewest shots on goal ever allowed in Ottawa's history.

The Senators won just 2-1, so they needed every bit of that defense.

“I do look at the clock, but not for the shots,” defenseman Jordan Spence told reporters after the game, via The Trentonian.  “But, obviously after the game, we saw the shots and I think we’ve been kind of doing that the past couple of games. We just have to stick with our gameplan every game.  If we slack, that’s when teams can score a few goals and we lose. We’ve got to keep that going, and we’ve got a big one (Tuesday), so we’re focused on that.”

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The vibes are great for Ottawa right now. They're two points back of the final wild card spot in the Eastern Conference thanks to a 14-3-2 record in their last 19 games.

No rest for the weary. Right back on the ice Tuesday night against the Detroit Red Wings.

Senators backup goalie James Reimer had to make only eight saves to earn the win against the Rangers.

“These games are a lot harder than a 30 or 40 shot-night," Reimer said. "You’re not in a rhythm, you’re not feeling it, it’s just not happening, so you’ve got to trust it and trust that your body knows what it has to do when the time comes.  It’s a difficult game as a goalie to play mentally, but you just trust it.  The boys — I can’t say enough after going down to four defensemen — the stones they played with was impressive.”

Ottawa will need that to continue as the injuries pile up.

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