”We do have good energy in this building,” Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson said after recording an assist in his team’s sixth consecutive win at MSG excluding the playoffs. “I can’t quite explain why. It’s always fun to play in New York. This is a fantastic building.’

For whatever reason, they own us. It’s appalling. When your opponent indicates how much they enjoy playing in your barn, it’s an indictment. MSG should be a tough place to play. But instead, it’s become a morgue. This is all part of Dolan’s vision. While the Blueshirts still own a 9-5-1 home record compared to a pedestrian 3-4-1 road mark, pretty soon they’re going to run out of opportunities to pile up the points on Garden ice.

Nash was alluding to the poor start that put the club in an early two-goal hole. Zach Smith and rookie defenseman Patrick Wiercioch (PPG) scored 4:32 apart to give the Sens a 2-0 lead before 11 minutes had been played.

The Rangers responded immediately with Nash scoring his team-leading ninth 11 seconds later to start a comeback. Before the first was out, Brad Richards scored in his return on a nice set up from Carl Hagelin to tie the score.

”We could have had a better outcome,” said Richards after snapping a 15-game goal drought . ”We could have had a better third, so it’s tough to talk about anything else.”

They couldn’t get a third one past Robin Lehner, who slid across to deny Derek Stepan with the game still knotted in the final stanza. ”He made a good save,” Stepan lamented after being stoned. ”He came across and had his blocker up. I could shoot myself for it, but it’s a good save.”

Instead, Silfverberg broke Ranger hearts when he got to a rebound.

If only they could solve the Senator MSG riddle.

Notes: Making room for Richards, Brian Boyle was a healthy scratch. John Tortorella opted to keep Micheal Haley in the lineup. The ex-Islander played seven minutes and had a scrap after charging Chris Phillips. … Lundqvist finished with 36 saves in defeat while counterpart Lehner stopped 33 of 36 for the win. … The teams combined for 30 shots in the third with Ottawa holding a slight edge, 17-13. … A day after his debut in a win over the Islanders, Roman Hamrlik received 11 shifts (7:29) with a minor penalty and two of the Rangers’ 23 blocked shots. … Darroll Powe is scoreless in 12. … Rangers (12-9-2, 26Pts) visit Washington tomorrow for an NBC game at 12:30 PM.