OTTAWA -- Jean-Gabriel Pageau was worried about his pregame routine before Saturday's 3 p.m. start at Canadian Tire Centre.

"I thought I ate too much," the Ottawa Senators center said. "I had two chicken parm."

Turns out it gave Pageau lots of energy as the Ottawa native capped a four-goal performance with late-game heroics against the New York Rangers.

Pageau started a natural hat trick on a deflection with 3:19 left in the third period. Another deflection with 62 seconds remaining tied it, and his wrist shot off a 2-on-1 break at 2:54 of double overtime gave the Senators an unlikely 6-5 victory over the Rangers in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference semifinal series.

The outburst capped the first four-goal performance in Senators' playoff history, and it gave Ottawa a 2-0 lead in the series.

Game 3 is set for Tuesday at Madison Square Garden in New York.

"I'm going to remember that for the rest of my life," said Pageau, who had 12 goals during the season. "But I don't want to stop there now. I want to turn the page as quick as possible and focus on the next game."

Marc Methot and Mark Stone also scored for the Senators.

Rookie defenseman Brady Skjei led the Rangers with two goals, while Michael Grabner, Chris Kreider and Derek Stepan each had one.

"Four goals, that's absolutely sick," Senators coach Guy Boucher said of Pageau's performance. "It's not just four goals, it the tying goal, it's the overtime one ... it couldn't happen to a better person. He's just so liked by his peers. When you ask players who they want to play with, the No. 1 name that always comes is Pageau's. Doesn't matter if it's an offensive player, a defensive player, it's always the name that comes up.

"Today is just another one of these nights you know why everybody wants to play with this guy. It's not just a big heart, it's not just a lot of character. He's a good hockey player and he's smart. That's why he's able to play the way he does."

Both goalies had their moments of weakness early on. Craig Anderson wound up making 43 saves while Henrik Lundqvist stopped 28 shots.

"You're never sure or safe or comfortable, you just play the game and you try to be in it, but all it takes like it happened there are two deflections.," Lundqvist said. "You sort of have it under control but it's a quick play. It's obviously hard to defend too when they find the stick like that. I wasn't moving as well as I've been in other games, so I have to take a day in order to recharge and get better."

The Rangers gave the Senators three power plays before the game was 11 minutes old, but Ottawa could not take advantage. Both teams wound up 0-for-4 with man-advantage opportunities.

"We kept the crowd at the edge of their seats all night," said Anderson, who was saved by a Kyle Turris stick check after he gave the puck away to Rick Nash behind the net earlier in overtime. "We've learned from our experience in the first round of the playoffs to stick with it and never give up.

"You just never know. You've just got to be ready for the next save and give your team a chance to be in it. You just never give up and never change your mindset."

Stepan admitted the Rangers were guilty of sitting with the lead.

"I think you're just playing safe," he said. "You're just trying to make sure you don't get beat and give an odd-man rush, so you stay tight and you give them a little too much space. I think it's human nature. It's a tough thing to be able to play on your toes with the lead in the second round of the playoffs. It's tough to understand that you've gotta make those plays and you've gotta be confident that you're sharp with it."

Rangers center and former Senator Mika Zibanejad expressed frustration and disappointment with the loss.

"We put ourselves in a good spot there with a lead," he said. "Little details again. They score to make it 5-4, get some momentum and get the tying goal there. It's just disappointing."

The Senators lost veteran winger Clarke MacArthur after he received a shoulder-to-shoulder hit by Ryan McDonagh in the first. MacArthur took two shifts in the second but did not return to the game. Boucher said MacArthur was "feeling better" before he left the building and listed him as day-to-day.

NOTES: Jean-Gabriel Pageau's hat trick was the second of career in playoff action. He also had one against the Montreal Canadiens on May 5, 2013. ... The goal by Senators D Marc Methot was his first since March 19, 2016. ... Rangers LW Michael Grabner scored his first career playoff short-handed goal in the opening period. He has 13 regular-season short-handed goals in his career. ... The Rangers made no lineup changes from Game 1. ... Senators LW Tom Pyatt has officially been cleared to return from injuries suffered in Game 4 of the first-round series with Boston, but coach Guy Boucher elected not to tinker with a winning lineup on Saturday. That means Senators D Chris Wideman, who played 76 games during the regular season and the first five against the Bruins, was scratched for a third consecutive time.