In mid-January, the Ottawa Senators were in the initial stages of their bid to return to playoff contention when they scored eight goals in a game against the New York Rangers.

In the midst of a competitive Eastern Conference playoff chase, the Senators will return to the site of their most prolific offensive performance of the season when they visit the Rangers on Monday night.

Ottawa (36-24-9, 81 points) endured a 2-6-1 stretch from Dec. 23 to Jan. 10, and the rough patch left them seven points out of the second-wild card spot.

The Senators, however, swept a back-to-back set by rolling to a six-goal lead and an 8-4 victory against the Rangers on Jan. 14. It was the second win in Ottawa’s current 16-5-4 stretch.

Even with the improvement, Ottawa is four points behind the conference’s second wild-card team, the New York Islanders, entering its 70th game. The Senators are attempting to win three straight games for the third time in their surge after following Thursday’s 3-2 home victory over the Islanders with a 5-2 triumph over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday.

The Senators scored the first three goals and set a season high with 43 shots on goal.

“It was a massive win,” said Ottawa’s Tim Stutzle, who scored his 32nd goal of the season and 13th in a barrage that began with a tally against the Rangers.

“Nobody underestimated them. We came out hard, and we didn’t really like the first 10 minutes, then we just settled in. There was a lot to like about our game.

The Senators had 11 players produce at least one point on Saturday.

“It was a great game,” Ottawa coach Travis Green said. “We stuck with it and didn’t change. The first period was choppy, and I felt like there wasn’t a lot of flow to our game. I really like how we got our game in the second period and didn’t change the rest of the way.”

New York (28-33-9, 65 points) is using several younger players in its lineup, including Tye Kartye and goalie Dylan Garand. Kartye scored a goal and Garand made 35 saves in his NHL debut in Sunday’s 3-2 shootout loss to the Winnipeg Jets, a result that sent the Rangers to their fourth straight loss.

Garand was called up because backup goalie Jonathan Quick has an upper-body injury for the Rangers, who likely will start Igor Shesterkin on Monday. Shesterkin was a week into his injury when the Senators dominated the previous meeting.

Mika Zibanejad continued to be a bright spot for the Rangers by scoring a power-play goal Sunday. He enters his 1,000th career game after getting his 30th goal, marking the former Senators’ first-round pick’s fourth 30-goal season with the Rangers and first since 2022-23.

“I think Mika has been arguably our best forward all year,” New York coach Mike Sullivan said. “Not just with how he’s scoring goals, but with how he’s playing the game. As far as his goal-scoring ability, I think it’s on display every night. The puck comes off his stick differently than most, the way he shoots the puck, and that for me, is a sign of a true goal-scorer.”

–Field Level Media

In an encouraging development for the rebuilding Utah Jazz, rookie Ace Bailey’s defense quickly is catching up to his impressive offensive game.

Bailey will look to continue his growth when the Jazz face the Toronto Raptors on Monday night in Salt Lake City.

Toronto (39-31) is in fifth place in the Eastern Conference, while Utah (21-50) has been eliminated from playoff contention in the West and has lost five of its last six games.

The Jazz knew all about Bailey’s offensive upside when they selected the talented wing with the fifth overall pick in 2025 NBA Draft, out of Rutgers.

In recent weeks, the 6-foot-9 Bailey has starred on both ends of the court.

One game after scoring a career-high 33 points against the Milwaukee Bucks, Bailey had 25 points, seven rebounds and a season-high five blocks in a 126-116 home loss to the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday.

Bailey became the second-youngest player in NBA history to score 25-plus points with five or more blocks in a game. Kevin Durant is the only player younger than Bailey to achieve the feat.

Jazz coach Will Hardy continues to be pleased with Bailey’s all-around play. Bailey has averaged 19.4 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.1 assists in his last nine games while shooting 45.7% from the field and 40.7% from 3-point range.

“Ace is an incredible athlete, and it’s not just offensively,” Hardy said of Bailey, who is averaging 13.0 points and 4.0 rebounds per game for the season. “Like, his ability to cover ground and close out his ability to guard the ball. I truly believe that he’s grown more on the defensive side of the ball than he has offensively.”

Bailey said defense has been a primary focus during his rookie campaign.

“With the team we’re looking to have, being a defender, it’s gonna be a very big role, especially if you wanna stay on the court. And if you wanna win, you’ve got to, and I want to win, so I have to play offense and defense,” Bailey said.

Utah is looking to avenge an 107-100 road loss to Toronto on Feb. 1.

The Jazz could use another strong outing from guard Kennedy Chandler, who scored a career-high 19 points in his team debut on Saturday after being signed to a 10-day contract.

The Raptors, meanwhile, will play the second night of a back-to-back set after losing 120-98 to the host Phoenix Suns on Sunday.

Scottie Barnes scored 17 points for Toronto, which trailed by as many as 31 points and never led in the contest. Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic said he was baffled by his team’s lack of competitiveness.

“I wish I knew the answer to that one,” Rajakovic said. “I tried everything. I tried encouraging. I tried not encouraging. I tried a lot of things, and we failed. We did not have it tonight.”

Brandon Ingram was held to six points on 3-of-10 shooting from the field after averaging 25.8 points over his last five games, but Rajakovic said after the game that there was plenty of blame to go around.

“It’s a whole team. It cannot be just one player. We win as a team, we lose as a team. We never want to point out a player,” Rajakovic said. “I thought that our whole team did have enough urgency for the game, and enough respect for our opponent (Sunday).”

Toronto hopes to have forward Collin Murray-Boyles available as soon as Monday. The promising rookie has missed the past 11 games with a left thumb sprain.

–Field Level Media

The Portland Trail Blazers have their eye on rising into eighth place in the Western Conference, and the next six games may decide whether they can do so.

Portland enters a home-heavy stretch filled with also-ran teams on Monday night when it opposes the visiting Brooklyn Nets.

The Trail Blazers (35-37) closed a 3-2 road trip with a 128-112 loss to the Denver Nuggets on Sunday.

Five of the Blazers’ next six games will be at home, and none of the five foes will be part of the playoffs or play-in round, including the Nets (17-54).

The lone road game will be against the Los Angeles Clippers, the team Portland hopes to pass and finish eighth in the conference. The Trail Blazers are a half-game behind the Clippers.

Portland missed a chance to get to .500 with the loss in Denver, a result that left Blazers interim coach Tiago Splitter feeling a bit sour about the five-game trip.

The Trail Blazers opened with a loss to the Philadelphia 76ers before beating the Nets, Indiana Pacers and Minnesota Timberwolves prior to the defeat in the Mile High City.

“It could be better,” Splitter said of the trip. “I think that game in Philly, we should have been better. At the end of the day, it’s 3-2 and we got to take it and go take care of business at home. We have an important week in front of us.”

Deni Avdija had 23 points and matched his career best of 14 assists against Denver while Donovan Clingan added 18 points and 13 rebounds. Clingan has 10 or more boards in nine straight games.

The Trail Blazers never led in the contest, and Denver exposed them in transition with a 27-9 edge in fast-break points.

“They put a lot of pressure on us in transition,” Splitter said. “We couldn’t rebound as well as we wanted, and they were running against our defense and getting easy baskets.”

In a road game against the Nets last Monday, Portland had seven players score in double digits during a 114-95 triumph. The Trail Blazers led 65-41 at halftime and cruised to the win.

That was loss No. 4 of the Nets’ current seven-game losing streak. The latest was Sunday’s 126-122 road setback to the Sacramento Kings in an outcome that dropped Brooklyn to 2-17 over its last 19 games.

Rookie Ben Saraf scored a season-best 22 points against Sacramento and has reached double digits in five of the past six games.

“Probably one of his best games at finishing at the rim,” Brooklyn coach Jordi Fernandez said of Saraf. “I like how aggressive he was, five assists to two turnovers.”

Saraf had 15 points, four assists and a season-high four steals in the recent loss to Portland.

Ziaire Williams and Malachi Smith added 18 points apiece against the Kings on Sunday. The point total was a career-best for Smith, who made 7 of 9 field-goal attempts while playing in his fifth NBA game.

Fernandez was highly impressed by the way his team handled the ball against the Kings. Two games earlier, his club committed 23 turnovers while being routed 121-92 by the visiting Oklahoma City Thunder. That was the night the Nets scored 24 points in the first half.

Against the Kings, Brooklyn committed just one miscue in the opening half.

“Our 30 assists to only seven turnovers is very impressive,” Fernandez said. “So that’s definitely a step forward for us.”

–Field Level Media