Zibanejad’s hat trick leads Rangers to 4-1 win over Senators

OTTAWA, Ontario — Mika Zibanejad had his third career hat trick and added an assist to help the New York Rangers beat the Ottawa Senators 4-1 on Saturday night.

Zibanejad, who was drafted sixth overall by the Senators in 2011, is only the second player in Rangers history to record eight points in the first two games of the season. On Thursday night, he had a goal and three assists in New York’s 6-4 home victory over Winnipeg.

Artemi Panarin also scored for the Rangers, and Alexandar Georgiev stopped 31 shots.

Brady Tkachuk scored for the Senators, and Craig Anderson made 26 saves.

Zibanejad opened the scoring on a power-play at 6:04 of the first period, and Tkachuk tied it midway through the period.

Zibanejad broke the tie at 9:53 of the second and made it 3-1 with a short-handed goal at 12:07. Zibanejad then set up Panarin’s power-play goal early in the third.