NEW YORK -- Rangers coach Alain Vigneault called the start to New York's Tuesday game a "worst-case scenario."

The Ottawa Senators scored on their first two shots, and the Rangers looked as if they were still filled with egg nog after the four-day Christmas break. Antti Raanta was the recipient of a boisterous, sarcastic cheer when he made his first save of the game on a routine shot.

After a nightmare opening 20 minutes, however, two goals apiece from Nick Holden and Derek Stepan and Raanta's 33 saves helped give the Rangers a 4-3 comeback victory at Madison Square Garden.

"Yeah, I heard it," Raanta said of the derisive cheers from the home crowd. "I think it's pretty funny how things can change in 20 minutes. I think our fans showing lots of passion is what we need sometimes. The fans gave me a wake-up call."

With the Rangers trailing 3-1 in the second period, Raanta extended his right leg to deny a glorious scoring opportunity for Senators defenseman Cody Ceci, who scored one of his team's three goals in the first period. It was one of 24 saves Raanta made over two perfect final periods, which allowed the Rangers to score three unanswered goals and get the win.

It also helped that Senators goaltender Mike Condon was off his game all night. Holden's first-period goal was scored short-side off a sharp angle, then his winner early in the third period came on a wraparound shot that somehow slithered under Condon's left leg.

Stepan cut the lead to 3-2 early in the second period with Condon nowhere near the net after making a save. Stepan's power-play goal that tied the game at 3 came off a deft deflection from the slot late in the middle period.

No matter how the goals got past Condon, the Rangers credited the turnaround after trailing 3-1 to a vocal Stepan both on the bench and in the locker room.

"It's something I've been thinking about the last couple games," said Stepan, referring to the Rangers' 7-2 loss in Pittsburgh and 7-4 loss at home to Minnesota before the holiday break. "It's so important to have good chatter on the bench. We had none of it. No emotion. I know our coaching staff expects our leadership group to step up at times. At that moment, I felt that was a good time to step up and try to light a fire under somebody and try to turn things around."

Vigneault said, "I really liked the way Stepan stepped up on the bench and in between periods. We needed a push-back. At some point, your leaders have to take command."

The speech didn't do anything to shift the game territorially, as Ottawa outshot the Rangers 24-18 over the final two periods. But with Condon allowing soft goals and Raanta responding, the Senators couldn't find the fourth goal that could have put the game away.

"We definitely started strong enough, and coming off a break, that's always tough to do," Ceci said. "From there, we kind of tailed off a bit and got into a little bit of penalty trouble. The chances were there to get that fourth one. We just couldn't put it home."

"I thought the effort was really good," Senators center Derick Brassard said. "I thought we lost the game in the second period. We missed two or three opportunities where we could have put the game away, where it would be 4-2 or 5-2. Their goalie kept them in the game."

It wasn't even a scheduled start for Raanta, who filled in because Henrik Lundqvist was unavailable due to the flu. Perhaps allowing goals to Mark Borowiecki and Zack Smith to start the game was a sign of everyone's lack of preparation after a long layoff, but Raanta used the ire of the fans to refocus before it was too late.

"(Raanta) made some incredible saves," said Rangers captain Ryan McDonagh, who registered three assists. "It was great to see him rebound. It can be tough to give up the first two shots of the game like that, but he stayed with it. He always does. It was great to see him get rewarded with the win."

NOTES: Ottawa LW Mike Hoffman and C Jean-Gabriel Pageau registered two assists apiece. ... Senators G Craig Anderson remained on personal leave to be with his wife, Nicholle, who is battling cancer. ... Senators G Andrew Hammond (ankle) did not play. Ottawa recalled G Matt O'Connor from the AHL to back up G Mike Condon. ... Rangers G Henrik Lundqvist (flu) did not dress. G Brandon Halverson served as the backup to G Antti Raanta. ... Rangers LW Rick Nash (groin) missed his third straight game. ... D Brady Skjei, a healthy scratch in the Rangers' previous game, was back in the lineup. He replaced D Adam Clendening.