Category: Sports

OTTAWA, ON — Theresa Schafzahl broke a 2-2 tie with just 52 seconds remaining in the third period to lift Boston to a 3-2 win in Ottawa at The Arena at TD Place on Wednesday evening.

Schafzahl’s game-winner came off a rebound after teammate Alina Müller intercepted Ottawa’s breakout attempt and directed a shot towards the net, which ricocheted off Gigi Marvin on its way to the goal.

Ottawa battled back from a 2-0 first period deficit to tie the game at twos early in the third, but Schafzahl’s late goal officially ended the home team’s pursuit of a second straight win.

Müller got the game’s first goal, scored on the powerplay, at 8:38 of the first period to give Boston a 1-0 lead. The first-year pro scored from the high slot through a Hannah Brandt screen and past Ottawa goaltender Sandra Abstreiter just 14 seconds into the advantage after taking a feed from teammate Megan Keller.

The goal was the first of the season for Müller, the league’s third overall draft pick, who entered the game with five assists in four games played. Keller’s helper was her first of the season—entering tonight’s contest, she had two goals.

Boston forward Jamie Lee Rattray had a memorable homecoming. The Kanata-born forward scored her first-ever PWHL goal in Ottawa to help her team add to its lead and head into the first intermission up 2-0.

The 31-year-old scored on the rush at 2:23 of the period after slipping by the Ottawa defender to get to the net, where she tapped home a cross-crease pass from Sophie Shirley.

Abstreiter, who was making her first start of the season, left the game after Boston’s second goal with an apparent injury and was replaced by Emerance Maschmeyer.

After trailing 12-7 in shots after the first period, Ottawa bounced back in the second, outshooting Boston 16-8 in the frame.

Kristin Della Rovere finally got the home team on the board at 15:34 of the middle period after Boston goaltender Aerin Frankel made a series of high-quality saves to start the frame. Della Rovere quickly tapped a pass from Natalie Snodgrass into the back of the net, cutting Boston’s lead in half to 2-1.

Della Rovere’s goal was her first of the season—and first as a pro— and Snodgrass picked up her first assist on the marker.

At 3:46 of the third period, Lexie Adzija tied the game at 2-2 by scoring a rebound goal on the powerplay, assisted by captain Brianne Jenner and defender Amanda Boulier, much to the delight of the 5,208 fans in attendance.

The last ten minutes of the third period saw each team produce several dangerous scoring chances. Frankel and Maschmeyer kept the game tied for their respective teams, until Schafzahl’s late winner.

Frankel made 37 saves in the win. Maschmeyer made 18 saves in relief and Abstreiter stopped 10 of 12 shots before leaving the game in the first period.

Up next, Ottawa hits the road for just the second time this season to take on Montréal at Place Bell on January 27. That same afternoon, Boston returns home to the Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell to host Minnesota for a second time.

OTTAWA, ON — Emily Clark and Brianne Jenner each scored first period goals for Ottawa in a 3-1 win against Toronto at The Arena at TD Place in Ottawa on Tuesday.

Clark scored at 5:00 of the first period to give her team an early 1-0 lead—her first-ever PWHL goal. The forward scored after she threw the puck on net from the goal line near the corner, which banked off the inside of Toronto goaltender Erica Howe’s pad and into the back of the net.

Jenner’s tally at 12:00 of the first period gave her team a 2-1 lead and held as the eventual game winner. The goal, the first of the season for the captain, was assisted by Amanda Boulier.

The goal came after Boulier cut off Toronto’s attempted breakout pass up the middle which kept the puck in the offensive zone. She then sped towards Toronto’s net and dropped the puck back to Jenner, who snapped it past Howe.

Lexie Adzija officially put the game away for her team with a shorthanded, empty-net goal with just 43 seconds left in the third, which she scored from behind Ottawa’s goal line. The marker also freed teammate Clark from the penalty box.

The 3-1 win is Ottawa’s first on home ice after their first two attempts resulted in overtime losses, to Montréal and Minnesota. Ottawa’s first-ever win also came in regulation against Toronto ten days ago at Mattamy Athletic Centre, with a final score of 5-1.

Toronto winger Brittany Howard’s first PWHL goal came at 11:08 of the first period. Captain Blayre Turnbull had the helper— her first PWHL point. The tally tied the game 1-1 for just 42 seconds before Jenner restored the home team’s lead.

Ottawa goaltender Emerance Maschmeyer made 30 saves to secure her second regulation win of the season. She’s started all four of Ottawa’s games. Howe made 17 saves in in the loss, her first start of the season.

Up next, Ottawa returns to action on Wednesday night for the first back-to-back games on the PWHL schedule when they host Boston at 7:00 p.m. ET. On Friday, Toronto hosts New York, which will be the third game between the two teams this season. Through the first two games, each road team has won in regulation.

OTTAWA, ON — Nikolaj Ehlers’ goal with 45.8 seconds remaining in overtime led the Winnipeg Jets to a 2-1 victory over the Ottawa Senators on Saturday.

Mason Appleton scored in the second period for the Jets. Connor Hellebuyck made 34 saves.

Parker Kelly had the lone goal for Ottawa, which played its first overtime game of the season. Joonas Korpisalo stopped 27 shots.

On the winning goal, Ehlers deked Ottawa’s Jakob Chychrun and then beat Korpisalo with a backhand shot.

OTTAWA, ON — Tim Stutzle had a goal and two assists, Joonas Korpisalo stopped 21 shots and the Ottawa Senators beat the Montreal Canadiens 6-2 on Thursday night.

Brady Tkachuk, Rourke Chartier, Vladimir Tarasenko, Mathieu Joseph and Parker Kelly also scored for Ottawa. The Senators won for the second time in eight games to improve to 16-24-0.

Ottawa responded after interim coach Jacques Martin challenged the team after a 7-4 loss to Colorado on Tuesday night, saying he needed a better effort and more determination from some people.

“I thought it was a really good effort for 60 minutes,” Martin said. “I thought we played on our toes. What I like is, the last couple of games, I like the amount of time we’re spending in the offensive zone. I think it’s a step in the right direction.”

Cole Caufield and Michael Pezzetta scored for Montreal. Coming off a 3-2 victory over New Jersey on Wednesday night, the Canadiens dropped to 19-19-7.

Cayden Primeau made 32 saves for Montreal.

Montreal, playing its ninth back-to-back, has struggled this season on the tail end of those back-to-backs with a 1-8-0 record.

“We’ve had a tough schedule here,” Caufield said. “Playing back-to-back is tough, but at the end of the day the league doesn’t care and we’ve got to be ready for those things.”

Leading 4-1 to open the third, the Senators didn’t take long to make this one look ugly.

After a turnover at center ice, Stutzle broke in and made a nice drop pass to Joseph for his seventh of the season.

“I haven’t been playing the way I want to play,” Stutzle said. “The last three games, I think I’ve got my confidence back. I think the whole group, I mean, we’re getting pucks to the net, we’ve got guys on the goalie and it makes the job easier.”

Kelly added his empty-netter when the Canadiens pulled Primeau with over seven minutes remaining.

Pezzetta made it 6-2 by winning a battle for the puck in front late in the third.

OTTAWA, ON – Susanna Tapani scored her first two goals of the season, including the game-winner, as Minnesota rallied from a two-goal deficit to win 3-2 in overtime on the road against Ottawa on Wednesday.

Tapani scored 1:57 into the extra frame, when the forward carried the puck into Ottawa’s zone and shot the puck from the outside hash marks— the puck ricocheted off an Ottawa player and flipped up-and-over Emerance Maschmeyer’s shoulder to end the game 3-2.

The three-time Finnish Olympian first got on the board at the 3:21 mark of the second period with a powerplay goal assisted by Taylor Heise and Lee Stecklein. Tapani took the cross-ice feed from Heise and wristed the puck far-side and into the back of the net, which brought Minnesota to within one goal.

The goal was Minnesota’s first on the powerplay this season after the team went 0/8 in their first five games played.

The crowd at TD Place in Ottawa was treated to a first period lead for the second time in two home games, as Ottawa’s first round draft pick Savannah Harmon was first on the board just 3:41 into the game. The goal was Harmon’s first of the year.

On the play, forward Emily Clark recorded the assist after she rushed the puck from her own end and into the offensive zone, then fed the puck to Harmon who roofed it past Nicole Hensley.

Less than ten minutes later, Lexie Adzija scored a powerplay goal, assisted by Jincy Roese and Kateřina Mrázová, at 10:55 to put Ottawa up 2-0. The goal—Adzija’s first of the season and first-ever professional mark— came after a Roese shot from the point created a rebound, which Adzija tapped home.

After Tapani’s 2-1 goal earlier in the frame, Grace Zumwinkle evened the score at 2-2 with a shorthanded goal at 11:20 in the second period.

On the penalty kill, Zumwinkle cut to the net and roofed the puck from in tight past Maschmeyer, which also freed Tapani from the box. This is the third ‘jailbreak’ shorthanded goal in the PWHL this season and Zumwinkle’s league-leading fifth tally. Kelly Pannek got the lone assist on the goal, her third helper of the season.

After neither team could capitalize in the third period, the game required 3-on-3 overtime, the second OT game each team has played this season.

Ottawa’s homestand continues with back-to-back games against Toronto and Boston on January 23 and 24. Minnesota’s next game is a home date with Montréal on January 24.

OTTAWA, ON — Mikko Rantanen had a pair of goals and the Colorado Avalanche scored four unanswered goals in the third period goals to beat the Ottawa Senators 7-4 on Tuesday night.

Trailing 4-3 to start the third period, Colorado didn’t take long to tie the game with Miles Wood taking advantage of a clear lane to the net.

Sam Malinski gave the Avalanche the lead with a power-play goal with a shot from the top of the slot at the eight-minute mark. Logan O’Connor added some insurance with a late goal and Devon Toews added an empty-net goal.

Jason Polin also scored for Colorado, while Justus Annunen, making his season debut, had 36 saves. Samuel Girard had three assists.

“On a back-to-back, going against a fresh team, that’s sort of what you need to do, have everyone pulling on the reins, have everyone contributing in different ways,” O’Connor said.

“I thought Justus (Annunen) was also huge for us when we needed him. He made a lot of key stops and gave us the opportunity to come back there in the third.”

Ridly Greig led Ottawa with two goals while Drake Batherson and Jake Sanderson also scored. Mads Sogaard, also making is season debut in net, stopped 27 shots for the Senators.

The effort left Senators coach Jacques Martin disappointed.

“I think we just need a better effort from some people,” Martin said. “We need more determination.”

The Senators held their own against the Avalanche for 40 minutes, but couldn’t find a way to shut them down in the third.

“I don’t know if it’s exactly the third period,” said captain Brady Tkachuk, who had three assists. “It’s never really a 60-minute effort. I think we let off the gas … we just need to find a way to just put in a consistent 60-minute effort and make life a little bit easier for our goalies.”

Ottawa took the lead early in the second when Annunen juggled Tkachuk’s shot and Greig poked the puck in. Colorado tied it just over one minute later when Polin beat Sogaard with a snap shot to the far corner for his first NHL goal.

Greig gave the Senators the lead at the seven-minute mark with his second of the night and Sanderson with a beautiful move made it 4-2 at the midway mark of the period.

Colorado appeared to make it a one-goal game, but a goal by Malinski was reviewed and was ruled offside. Just over a minute later Rantanen scored his second of the game.

The teams exchanged first-period goals.

Ottawa opened the scoring with a power-play goal when Batherson drilled Logan O’Connor with a shot and then fired the puck home. Bust 38 seconds later Colorado tied the game when Rantanen, from one knee, tipped in Cale Makar’s shot.

OTTAWA, ON — Vladimir Tarasenko scored with five seconds remaining in the third period as Ottawa snapped a five-game losing streak with a victory over San Jose.

Claude Giroux, Thomas Chabot, Brady Tkachuk and Drake Batherson also scored for Ottawa, while Joonas Korpisalo turned away 14 shots.

Anthony Duclair, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Kevin Labanc and Filip Zadina scored for the Sharks. Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 36 shots.

Zadina tied the game with three minutes remaining in regulation.

OTTAWA, ON – Anton Forsberg made 45 saves and Ottawa beat the Buffalo Sabres 5-1 on Sunday night in Senators interim coach Jacques Martin’s 1,300th NHL game.

Ottawa won after removing the interim tag and appointing Steve Staios as general manager Sunday. Martin took over as interim coach about two weeks ago after D.J. Smith was fired.

Zack MacEwen and Mark Kastelic each had their first goal of the season and Dominik Kubalik, Jakob Chychrun and Artem Zub also scored to help Ottawa improve to 15-18-0. Thomas Chabot had two assists in his return after missing 12 games because of a leg injury.

Tage Thompson scored for Buffalo, and Devon Levi made 26 saves.The Sabres are 15-19-4.

Ottawa opened the scoring with Chychrun’s power-play goal at 6:51 of the first period. Chychrun one-timed it past Levi for his 200th career point. McEwen made it 2-0, and Thompson countered for Buffalo with 13 seconds remaining in the period.

Ottawa took a 3-1 lead seven minutes into the second when Ridly Greig deked past Rasmus Dahlin and dished a pass over to Kubalik, who got a piece of the bouncing puck. Kastelic scored with 15 seconds remaining in the period.

Zub had an empty-net goal in the third.

Ottawa also made Dave Poulin the senior vice-president of hockey operations and Ryan Bowness associate general manager. Bowness had been the general manager of the Senators’ AHL farm team, the Belleville Senators.

OTTAWA, ON – Jesper Bratt had a goal and three assists, and the New Jersey Devils beat the Ottawa Senators 6-2 on Friday night for their third straight win.

Brothers Luke and Jack Hughes each had a goal and two assists for the Devils (19-13-2), and Dawson Mercer, Tyler Toffoli and Brendan Smith also scored. Nico Daws made 25 saves.

Drake Batherson and Jacob Bernard-Docker scored for the Senators (13-18-0), who had won two in a row. Joonas Korpisalo stopped 24 shots.

New Jersey carried a 4-1 lead into the final period. After killing a penalty, Nico Hischier hit Smith with a breakaway pass as he left the penalty box. Smith beat Korpisalo with a deke for his first goal with the Devils.

With just under seven minutes to play, Bernard-Docker took a point shot that hit a Devils player in front and went past Daws. It was his third goal of the season.

Luke Hughes then closed out the scoring, making it 6-2 with his sixth goal with 2:32 left.

The Senators opened the scoring midway through the first when Brady Tkachuk intercepted a clearing attempt inside the Devils’ blue line and fed Batherson in front. Batherson waited for Daws to go down and flipped the puck over him.

New Jersey responded with a pair of power-play goals. Jack Hughes scored at 13:10 and then Bratt put the Devils ahead with just eight seconds to play in the period.

In the second, New Jersey upped its lead to 4-1. Mercer scored at 7:17, followed by Toffoli at 14:47

The Senators finished 0 for 4 on the power play, and the Devils were 2 for 4.

OTTAWA, ON – Tim Stutzle scored 70 seconds into overtime and the Ottawa Senators snapped a six-game losing streak with a 5-4 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday night.

Brady Tkachuk, Josh Norris, Erik Brannstrom and Jakob Chychrun also scored for Ottawa, which won its first game during Jacques Martin’s second stint as coach. Anton Forsberg made 30 saves.

Martin took over behind the bench on an interim basis when the Senators fired D.J. Smith on Monday. He also coached the team for nine seasons from 1995-96 through 2003-04.

Lars Eller, Rickard Rakell, Drew O’Connor and Kris Letang scored for the Penguins while Alex Nedeljkovic stopped 21 shots.

Trailing 4-2 to start the third, the Penguins made it a one-goal game just 1:51 into the period when O’Connor deflected Marcus Petersson’s point shot. Letang tied the game with 2:26 remaining.

Leading 2-1, Ottawa extended its lead early in the second when Claude Giroux made a great pass through traffic to a streaking Tkachuk, who tipped home his 15th of the season.

Pittsburgh made it a one-goal game when Rakell tipped home Sidney Crosby’s pass, but Ottawa padded its lead on Brannstrom’s second of the season at 7:30. The goal required a lengthy review, but stood.

The Senators got the start they were looking for jumping out to a 2-1 lead in the first period.

Chychrun opened the scoring, sliding on one knee to score on the rebound of Giroux’s shot at 11:07. The Penguins tied the game with a power-play goal at 14:31 when Eller beat Forsberg short side. Ottawa regained the lead 30 seconds later when Norris batted a shot past Nedeljkovic.

OTTAWA, ON – Sebastian Aho had two goals and an assist to lead the Carolina Hurricanes to a 4-1 win over the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday night.

Matin Necas and Seth Jarvis also scored for Carolina. Pyotr Kochetkov made 31 saves as the Hurricanes snapped a four-game skid.

Josh Norris scored for the Senators, who had their three-game winning streak halted. Joonas Korpisalo stopped 24 shots.

The Senators opened the scoring seven minutes in, when Norris tipped in a shot by Erik Brannstrom.

Carolina tied the game with a power-play goal with 1:11 left in the period. Brady Skeji made a great pass to Necas, who beat Korpisalo on the short side.

Aho gave Carolina the lead with a power-play goal on a shot from the point at 12:18 of the second period. He picked up an assist 81 seconds later when Jarvis beat Korpisalo.

Aho added another goal at 17:19, taking advantage of poor defensive coverage and going in uncontested to score his 10th goal of the season.

Down by three to start the third period, Ottawa pressed to get back in the game, but Kochetkov was solid. He stopped Drake Batherson, who was playing his 250th career game, on a breakaway midway through the period, and also stopped Brady Tkachuk on a penalty shot late in the game.

Tkachuk was awarded the penalty shot after officials whistled Kochetkov for thowing his stick to make a save.

Ottawa was 0 for 4 on the power play and slipped to 0 for 18 on the power play in its last five home games.

Hurricanes forward Andrei Svechnikov will be sidelined for the foreseeable future due to an upper-body injury, the team said.

OTTAWA, ON — Joseph Woll made 29 saves before leaving because of an injury midway through the third period and the Toronto Maple Leafs held on to beat the Ottawa Senators 4-3 on Thursday night.

Woll left after stopping a shot from Rourke Chartier.

Toronto led 3-2 at the time, and William Nylander made it 4-2 with 6:57 remaining.

Mitch Marner, David Kampf and Calle Jarnkrok also scored for the Maple Leafs, and Martin Jones stopped none of 10 shots in relief of Woll.

Josh Norris, Jacob Bernard-Docker and Claude Giroux scored for Ottawa. Anton Forsberg stopped 18 shots.

Jarnkrok gave Toronto a 3-1 edge 3:35 into the third period with a wrist shot, capped a run of three straight Maple Leafs goals.

But under two minutes later, Bernard-Docker made it a one-score game with his first career NHL goal on a point shot.

Nylander made it 4-2 with a wrist shot from the left faceoff circle, and Giroux finished the scoring on a one-timer with 1:53 remaining.

Ottawa was unable to complete the comeback after pulling Forsberg and having a power play for the final 50.3 seconds.