OTTAWA -- New York Rangers defenseman Dan Boyle had karma on his side when he ended Saturday afternoon's game at Canadian Tire Centre in the shootout.

To start with, the 39-year old Ottawa product figured it was a fitting finish to what could be one of his last chances to play in his hometown.

"So it was nice to have some people in the crowd and give them a little reward," said Boyle, whose 11th goal in 38 career shootout chances extended the Rangers winning streak to eight games in a 2-1 victory over the Senators. "More importantly, (being able to) reward the team and coach for working hard and playing hard, and getting the two and not leaving the point out there.

Rangers defensemen Ryan McDonagh was poised to end the affair late in regulation with a shot that was labelled for the top corner.

"It just hit the knob of my stick and I guess that was karma because Boyle (was) shooting it wide there in the shootout and it hits my knob and goes in," Senators goaltender Craig Anderson said.

Rangers left winger Chris Kreider and Senators defenseman Erik Karlsson scored first period goals to set up Ottawa's eighth overtime in 17 games.

The matinee meeting between New York (13-2-2) and Ottawa (8-5-4) featured all sorts of close calls and solid goaltending, both by Anderson and the Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist.

The Rangers outshot the Senators 34-23, including a 4-1 margin in overtime.

Among a number of posts hit over the course of the day were three in overtime: two by Senators left winger Mike Hoffman and one by Rangers left winger Rick Nash. Senators center Mika Zibanejad missed a wide open net in the 3-on-3, while Rangers center J.T. Miller missed one in the game's second minute.

"Both had a chance to go in, they both beat him," Hoffman said of his chances in the extra period. "I just couldn't find the back of the net.

It was a good game. Even talking to guys after in here, everyone had fun. It was a fast paced game. It's great for us, great for the fans."

It also was a nasty game, at times.

The Rangers were upset with Senators center Zack Smith, who got away with an earlier slash on defenseman Dan Girardi, for an incident between the two benches in the second period. It started when Smith elbowed Rangers center Derek Stepan, who had to leave the game for concussion protocol.

Kreider immediately responded to the hit by soundly thrashing Smith in a fight, but he was given a minor, fighting major and 10-minute misconduct for his efforts.

"All the contact is directly to my head," Stepan said. "Fortunately I'm okay. Whether or not the league decides (to suspend Smith), I will say it's kind of unfortunate that I get hit and I have to come in the locker room, and Chris has to sit for 17 minutes and (Smith) is back on the ice (after serving a minor and major).

"That's just the way the game is right now. Whether or not the NHL decides to do something, we have no control over it. I'm just happy I'm healthy."

Boyle, who has been a healthy scratch three times this season, was just happy to be a contributor.

"I've been hard on myself a lot, but I think at the end of the day it's about winning hockey games," Boyle said. "When I get home at night, with the start we've had, it makes things a lot better. Obviously, I'm not who I was 10 years ago, but I can still be effective out there and help this team. Wins are pretty much all I care about."

Rangers coach Alain Vigneault leaned on past experiences when selecting a blue liner to take part in the shootout.

"We've used Dan a couple of times before and he's always had some pretty good moves," Vigneault said. "Shootouts, who knows, eh? You throw guys over the boards and it worked out for us tonight."

Meanwhile, the game was a solid bounce back for Anderson, who gave up seven goals to the Nashville Predators in his last start.

"The great thing about the law of averages is that you're due for a good one the next one," Anderson said. "That's just kind of the way things go."

NOTES: Senators D Jared Cowen missed his first game of the season with an unspecified injury after blocking a shot last Thursday against Vancouver. He was replaced by D Patrick Wiercioch, who was a healthy scratch for the first time this season Thursday. ... Senators RW Bobby Ryan scored his fifth shootout goal in six chances this season ... Rangers C Dominic Moore was back in the lineup after missing two games as a healthy scratch. Moore was moved from his usual position as a center to replace LW Emerson Etem on the fourth line ... Rangers D Dylan McIlrath was a healthy scratch for the fourth game in a row and 11th time this season.