Drake Batherson's Hat Trick Sinks the Rangers 7-4 as Jonas Johansson Wins His Debut and Ottawa Covers for Linus Ullmark

Drake Batherson scored three goals and added an assist as the Ottawa Senators beat the New York Rangers 7-4 at Canadian Tire Centre on Saturday night. It was the third hat trick of Batherson's career, and all three have come at home, which ties Dany Heatley and Marian Hossa for the most home hat tricks in Senators history. Jake Sanderson added a goal and two assists, Tim Stutzle scored for the third straight game, and goaltender Jonas Johansson won his Ottawa debut with Linus Ullmark on injured reserve.

The skaters made the highlights, but the goaltending is the bigger fantasy story on both benches. Ottawa is navigating a one-to-two-week absence for one of the league's best goalies to start the season, and the Rangers are already playing the rest of their year without Igor Shesterkin.

How the game unfolded

Ottawa built a three-goal lead, and New York cut it to one twice before the Senators pulled away. Batherson finished the hat trick with an empty-netter at 19:48 of the third period: he blocked an Adam Fox point shot and the puck bounced the length of the ice into the vacant net.

Ottawa's other goals came from Sanderson, Dylan Cozens and Michael Amadio, with Cozens and Amadio each adding an assist. Stutzle's first-period goal was his league-leading sixth in the opening frame this season. The Rangers got goals from J.T. Miller, Will Cuylle, Alexis Lafreniere and Pavel Dorofeyev, with Miller and Cuylle each adding an assist.

The table below lists the key fantasy lines from the game.

The Ottawa net without Ullmark

Ullmark left Wednesday's 5-1 win over the Florida Panthers in the third period with a lower-body injury, and Ottawa placed him on injured reserve the next day. Coach Travis Green has said Ullmark is expected to miss one to two weeks. Before the injury, Ullmark entered that game second in the league in goals-against average and save percentage, so this is a real loss for fantasy managers who drafted him as a high-end starter.

Ottawa recalled Johansson from AHL Belleville to back up Samuel Ersson, and Green chose to get Johansson into Saturday's game early. Johansson, acquired from Tampa Bay in a September trade, made 24 saves and was credited with an assist, though one recap had his total at 23 saves on 27 shots. Either way, it was a win built on goal support rather than a dominant goaltending performance.

For fantasy, Ersson is the Ottawa goalie to roster during Ullmark's absence. He is the likelier starter on most nights and should get the bulk of the work over the next week. Johansson is a matchup streamer at best, useful on a night Ottawa faces a weak offense. Ullmark managers should stash him on IR rather than drop him; the timeline points toward a return in early November.

The Rangers' goaltending problem

New York's net is a season-long concern. Shesterkin was ruled out for the season on Oct. 10 after a right knee injury suffered in a loss at Washington, and Dylan Garand, a 24-year-old with only a handful of NHL appearances before this month, has taken over. Backup Joonas Korpisalo is also injured. Garand made 17 saves on Saturday, by NHL.com's count, while allowing six goals before the empty-netter.

That is a fantasy warning. Garand will get volume because the Rangers have few alternatives, and volume brings wins, but his ratios are a risk on nights like this. He is a streaming option against weak offenses and a bench against teams that can score in bunches, like Ottawa. Rangers skaters, by contrast, remain fine starts; the offense produced four goals on Saturday.

Batherson and Sanderson: the fantasy takeaways

Batherson has quietly been one of the more consistent scoring wingers in fantasy, and a hat trick alongside Stutzle's continued scoring shows how productive Ottawa's top six is. He is a weekly start in standard leagues and especially valuable in formats that reward shots and power-play points.

Sanderson's three-point night is the other takeaway. He returned to the lineup earlier this month, and his production from the blue line raises the ceiling of Ottawa's power play. He is a strong fantasy defenseman in points leagues, and a three-point game is a reminder of his upside.

Betting angle

Both teams have goaltending questions right now, and that points toward high-scoring games until they stabilize. Ottawa's offense has been scoring freely, and the Rangers' defensive structure under Mike Sullivan has drawn criticism after nights like this. Overs in games involving either team, and particularly in games where Garand or Johansson starts, are a natural angle until the numbers say otherwise.

Starting goaltenders are among the biggest inputs in every NHL game. Verdexed's daily NHL picks for Sunday are at /blog/nhl-picks-2026-10-25, with the ongoing board at /nhl/predictions; check those after morning skates confirm the starters.

What to do in your league

Start Batherson, Stutzle and Sanderson. Add Ersson if he is available and start him until Ullmark returns. Stash Ullmark on IR. Treat Garand as a matchup streamer, not a weekly start, and keep the Rangers' skaters active. Johansson is a deep-league streamer only.