Category: Sports

OTTAWA, ON — Mikko Rantanen had a goal and two assists, Lars Eller scored a strange deciding goal and the Colorado Avalanche beat the Ottawa Senators 5-4 on Thursday night for their fourth straight victory.

Colorado defenseman Cale Makar had a goal and an assist, and Lars Eller, Valeri Nichushkin and Evan Rodrigues also scored. Nathan MacKinnon had three assists, and Jonas Johansson stopped 31 shots.

Drake Batherson, Shane Pinto, Travis Hamonic and Brady Tkachuk scored for Ottawa, Tim Stutzle had three assists and Mads Sogaard made 25 saves. The Senators have lost four in a row.

The Avalanche scored three times in the second period, including Eller’s odd goal, to take a 5-2 lead.

After Rantanen gave the Avalanche a 3-1 lead at 4:23, Pinto drew the Senators back within a goal eight minutes into the period. Rodrigues gave the Avalanche a 4-2 lead with 4:43 to go, and then the weirdness happened.

On what the Senators appeared to think was icing against the Avalanche, the puck bounced off the end boards and was in the corner of the crease by Sogaard’s pad. With Senators’ defenseman Jake Sanderson standing next to his netminder, no whistle came to end the play. After a couple of seconds, Eller skated in and jammed the puck past a confused group of Senators with 1:51 left.

After a lengthy review of a goaltender interference challenge from Senators coach DJ Smith, the goal stood.

Hamonic scored at 2:52 of the third period and Tkachuk scored on the power play at 13:18 to pull the Senators within a goal.

OTTAWA, ON — It’s an exciting time for the Ottawa Senators and their fans right now.

Following a 5-2 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday night, the Senators (32-26-4) sit three points back of the Pittsburgh Penguins (31-21-9) — who lost 4-1 earlier in the evening to the Florida Panthers — for the final wild-card berth in the NHL’s Eastern Conference.

Late in the third period fans at the Canadian Tire Centre started chanting “we want playoffs.” For a fan base that hasn’t had a team anywhere near contention since 2017, this is an exciting time.

“It kind of gave me chills to be honest,” said Tim Stutzle, who scored a pair of goals. “It was so loud and it was awesome. We’re playing great right now and hope to keep it going.”

It was also a warm welcome for Jakob Chychrun, who was acquired from Arizona in a Wednesday trade to help solidify Ottawa’s blue line. The 24-year-old had a goal and an assist in his home debut.

Fans were loud when Chychrun took his first shift and late in the third he was shown on the big screen and raised his arm sending the crowd into a frenzy.

“That was fun,” admitted Chychrun. “I don’t know what made me do that, just spur of the moment, but the crowd got me going so that’s what it’s all about, I think, is just having fun.

“They were really into it tonight so it was a blast out there.”

Ottawa’s blue line led the way on this night as Travis Hamonic, also scored a pair of goals, and Cam Talbot made 18 saves.

Hamonic isn’t quite known for his offensive abilities, but there was no denying his teammates happiness for his success.

“Boys had some fun with it for sure,” Hamonic said. “It’s not every night you score a couple in a game, but I think the important part is that we won.”

The Blue Jackets were coming off a 4-2 loss to the Seattle Kraken and never seemed to be able to keep up with the Senators.

Jack Roslovic and Patrick Laine scored for Columbus (20-37-6). Elvis Merzlikins was pulled after allowing four goals on 23 shots. Michael Hutchinson stopped 17 shots in relief.

“We talked about it before the game, that they were going to come hard, and I have no clue how we were still surprised how hard they came, especially in the beginning,” said Laine.

“And they kept coming at us the whole game. We were just sleeping, just sleeping for 60 minutes.”

Ottawa is riding a five-game winning streak, its first since March 2017, and were in control from start to finish on this night.

“We did a lot of really good things,” said Senators coach D.J. Smith. “I thought five-on-five we grinded, held on to the puck a lot longer. They played last night so they weren’t as sharp, but they worked right to the end.”

The teams exchanged goals 18 seconds apart to open the scoring in the first.

Hamonic beat Merzlikins with a shot from the top of the faceoff circle, but Columbus tied it moments later when Roslovic took advantage of a turnover along the boards and fired a wrister that beat Talbot.

Ottawa took the lead on Stutzle’s 30th of the season, scoring from in close.

“It feels pretty good,” said Stutzle of hitting the milestone. “Especially in my first couple years I didn’t finish that well so it feels pretty good and right now I’m really confident in the way I play.

“But in the end the most important is to get as many wins as we can and it feels good If I can contribute to those wins.”

Ottawa extended its lead in the second to 4-2 and were outshooting Columbus 29-11.

Hamonic, playing in his 780th career game, scored his second of the night early in the second to record his first multi-goal game.

Chychrun then scored his first as a Senator taking a pass from Erik Brannstrom and fired a wrister past Merzlikins, putting an end to his night.

Hutchinson, acquired Thursday from Vegas, came in making his debut with the Blue Jackets.

Columbus managed to cut the lead in half with Laine’s power-play goal midway through the period, but there was no denying they were being outplayed.

“You knew they were coming,” said Columbus head coach Brad Larsen. “There was no secret. They’re excited to play right now. They’re in a playoff hunt.

“They’ve been playing a real good brand of hockey for a while. We were very aware of what was coming, just didn’t handle it very well.”

Stutzle scored his second of the night on a short-handed breakaway after Nick Blankenburg lost a skate blade.

OTTAWA, ON — With a 6-1 win Tuesday night, the Ottawa Senators swept their two-game series against the Detroit Red Wings — and started a new rivalry.

Tim Stutzle led the way with a goal — scored on a first-period penalty shot — and two assists. Austin Watson had a pair of goals, while Claude Giroux, Alex DeBrincat and Brady Tkachuk also scored.

Mads Sogaard picked up his fourth NHL victory stopping 16 shots.

Dominik Kubalik scored the lone goal for the Red Wings, while Ville Husso made 21 saves.

Ottawa followed its 6-2 win on Monday with another commanding performance.

The win gives the Senators (30-26-4) 64 points, tying them with Detroit (28-24-8) and keeps them in the hunt for a wild-card berth in the highly contested Eastern Conference. There are six teams, including the Senators and Red Wings, all vying for a playoff spot.

Ottawa took control of the game midway through the first and didn’t let up.

Detroit opened the scoring three minutes in when Kubalik beat Sogaard with a weak shot glove side, but it was all Senators the rest of the way.

Stutzle tied the game on a penalty shot, the first of his career, and Watson scored his first of the night short-handed beating Husso up high.

Watson scored his second of the night tapping in a Derick Brassard pass, but took a high stick from David Perron moments after cutting his nose wide open. DeBrincat scored his 20th on the ensuing power play to make it 4-1.

The Senators are the first team in NHL regular-season history to score a power-play goal, a short-handed goal, an even-strength goal and a penalty-shot goal on four separate goals in a single period.

The period also featured an unlikely duo exchanging punches, although very few were actually thrown, as Ottawa’s Artem Zub had his first NHL fight against Tyler Bertuzzi.

Ottawa made it 5-1 with a second power-play goal when Giroux got a shot through traffic from the blue line.

Tkachuk rounded out the scoring tipping a shot from Giroux.

OTTAWA, ON — Claude Giroux scored the tiebreaking goal and had three assists, Thomas Chabot had a goal and two assists and the Ottawa Senators beat the Detroit Red Wings 6-2 Monday night.

Brady Tkachuk, Tim Stutzle, Drake Batherson and Jake Sanderson also scored to help Ottawa win its second straight after a two-game skid. Cam Talbot finished with 22 saves.

Senators coach D.J. Smith credited Tkachuk’s physical play as a key to the win.

“He came to play,” Smith said. “He’s played a lot of games, a lot of minutes against everyone’s top defenders and he’s been good the whole year, but there’s been a couple games where he’s really elevated his game and this is one of them.

“Not just with the puck, but his physicality … he was emotionally dialed right in.”

David Perron and Tyler Bertuzzi scored goals for the Red Wings, who have lost two straight after winning seven of eight. Magnus Hellberg had 36 saves.

This matchup of teams chasing a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference was a makeup for the game that was canceled on Dec. 23 due to a snowstorm. The teams meet again here on Tuesday.

Detroit remained three points behind Pittsburgh for the East’s second wild card. Buffalo is just a point behind the Penguins, and the Red Wings are in a three-way tie with Florida and Washington with 64 points.

“Everyone’s fighting for their lives,” Detroit’s Dylan Larkin said. “We have teams that we’re playing against that are battling for the same spot that we are. It did (feel like a playoff game) on the ice.”

The Red Wings know in order to have a chance Tuesday night they’ll need to stay out of the penalty box. Ottawa was 2 for 6 with the man advantage, which helped put the game out of reach.

“Too many penalties,” Detroit coach Derek Lalonde said. “That team will lose to nobody in the league if you give them six power plays.”

Perron fired a shot from the left circle on a power play for his 15th goal of the season to give the Red Wings a 2-1 lead at 5:11 of the second.

The Red Wings then scored four goals over an 8 1/2-minute stretch to take control.

“Sometimes when the game is big you don’t let it be a big game, you just play hockey,” Giroux said. “You don’t overthink it and tonight I think we did that. … We had a game plan and we just followed it.”

Batherson tied it with Ottawa’s second power-play goal of the game on a shot from the right circle with 7:25 remaining in the middle period. It was his 19th of the season — 12th on the power play.

Giroux put the Senators ahead for good as he got a long pass from Dylan Gambrell and skated in on Hellberg on a breakaway and slid the puck through the goalie’s legs for his 24th with 5:50 left in the period.

Tkachuk took a pass from Giroux and fired it past Hellberg from the left circle for his 25th with 2:19 left in the second to make it 4-2.

“I just wanted to do whatever it takes to help the team win,” Tkachuk said. “Whether that was by emotion or physicality or making the play at the right time, but everybody did that tonight.”

Chabot beat Hellberg top shelf for his ninth to give the Senators a three goal lead 47 seconds into the third period and Stutzle got his 27th with 5 minutes left.

Bertuzzi got the Red Wings on the scoreboard first as he skated in all alone on Talbot, cut across the front of the goal and put a backhander in from the left side with 8:12 left in the first period. It was his fourth.

Sanderson tied it on the power play at 3:41 of the second as he got the return pass on a give and go from Giroux and fired a shot from center point through traffic and past Hellberg. It was his fourth.

OTTAWA, ON — Tim Stutzle and Brady Tkachuk had three-point games to lead the Ottawa Senators to a 7-2 win over the St. Louis Blues on Sunday.

Stutzle had two goals and an assist and extended his point streak to four games (four goals, six assists).

“I just try to play my game every night and get better every day at practice, too, and I think as a team we’re playing way better than we did,” Stutzle said. “We’re holding on to pucks making plays and it’s a lot of fun playing.”

Stutzle’s teammates are enjoying his development.

“You guys can see it, his confidence is very high right now,” Thomas Chabot said. “He’s such a talented player. Anytime he gets the puck something happens and I think we’ve all seen that since he’s been here.

“Obviously, it’s taken to another level, but I think he’s going to keep that going.”

Tkachuk extended his career-best point streak to seven games (5 goals, 6 assists) with a goal and two assists.

Shane Pinto, Alex DeBrincat, Drake Batherson and Ridley Greig also scored for Ottawa. Mads Sogaard made 30 saves.

The Senators were coming off a disappointing 4-3 overtime loss to Chicago on Friday. They also wanted to take advantage of the fact the Blues were coming off a 4-1 loss to the Avalanche on Saturday and traveled from Colorado, not to mention the trade of some key players in the past 48 hours.

“I think people on the outside made so much noise about losing to Chicago, but any team can beat any team, we’re witness to that,” Senators coach D. J. Smith said. “I think our guys knew we didn’t play the right way, they turned the page, which is a good sign because if you win a game you’re not going to be too high either and I think that’s where the leadership has gotten a lot better.”

Colton Parayko and Tyler Pitlick scored for the Blues. Thomas Greiss stopped 27 shots.

“They have to figure it out,” Blues coach Craig Berube said. “You’ve got to get over what’s going on. We have veterans in there that are good players and they’ve got to take control of the team and they’ve got to understand the situation we’re in.”

Stutzle scored his second goal of the game early in the second period, beating Greiss through the pads to make it 6-0.

The Blues spoiled Sogaard’s shutout bid when Parayko got a shot off through traffic, and Pitlick scored his third of the season, tipping in Justin Faulk’s shot from the blue line two minutes later.

Greig scored his first career NHL goal with just over one minute remaining in regulation, picking up a loose puck in front.

Leading 1-0 to start the second, the Senators scored four consecutive goals and raced out to a 5-0 lead.

DeBrincat scored a one-timer on the power play to make it 2-0. Stutzle had a great move to get Greiss moving for his 25th of the season and Tkachuk made it by 4-0 tipping a shot by Claude Giroux. Batherson got in on the action, beating Greiss.

Pinto opened the scoring late in the first period, taking a pass from Batherson and scoring a one-timer for his 14th of the season.

OTTAWA, ON — The Ottawa Senators know they let two points slip away from them.

Andreas Athanasiou capped the Chicago Blackhawks’ comeback with the game-winning goal 2:52 into overtime to defeat the Senators 4-3 Friday. It was a disappointing ending to a night that started with celebrations to honour Chris Neil’s number 25 being raised to the rafters.

“We just made too many turnovers to finish off the game,” said Ottawa forward Brady Tkachuk. “It can’t happen, especially on a night like tonight where we’re honouring a Sens legend, a legend in this community.

“It stinks.”

Patrick Kane scored twice, including the game-tying marker, for Chicago (17-32-5) to send the contest to extra time. Sam Lafferty also scored for the Blackhawks, who snapped a three-game skid.

Petr Mrazek stopped 28 shots.

Tkachuk, Claude Giroux and Shane Pinto each scored for Ottawa (26-24-4), while Mads Sogaard made 28 saves. The Senators had won six of their last seven coming into the game.

“I think we’re just frustrated right now,” said Giroux. “Any time you have a 3-1 lead, you want to be a team that knows how to shut teams down.”

After entering the third period tied 1-1, the Senators put away two early goals to take control of the game.

Giroux capitalized on a pass from Alex DeBrincat, a former Blackhawk, and beat Mrazek off his backhand 2:11 into the frame. Just over two minutes later, Tkachuk padded Ottawa’s lead.

But the Blackhawks fought back. Lafferty took advantage of a puck bouncing past Thomas Chabot and broke in alone to beat Sogaard for a short-handed goal 10:49 into the period.

With 3:05 remaining, Kane scored his second of the night to tie it. The goal was Kane’s 1,217th career point, giving him the third most points among U.S.-born players.

“(I was) just kind of reading what the defenceman was doing,” said Kane. “He looked like he was kind of playing the middle, didn’t really come over at me at the start and then he slipped at the end and I thought I had a good chance to shoot and picked my corner.”

Sogaard took much of the responsibility for the loss.

“It’s pretty obvious if you give (Kane) just a little bit of room he’s going to capitalize,” he said. “You’re going to see that in this league.

“There’s great players on every team and his skill set is obviously at the top of the league, but that’s short side and that’s my responsibility and I’ve got to do a better job.”

Senators head coach D.J. Smith, meanwhile, was visibly frustrated post-game.

“We had three grade “A” looks (in overtime) … but it shouldn’t get there, that’s what it really comes down to,” he said. “It’s the NHL and if you lay off the gas just for a second that’s what happens.”

The win allowed the Blackhawks to salvage a disappointing road trip that saw them go 0-3-0 before Friday.

“Give our team a lot of credit,” said Chicago head coach Luke Richardson. “We have guts and we played hard right until the end. (Our players) really pushed to tie that game up and I’m really glad they persevered and got the win.”

The Blackhawks opened the scoring just 44 seconds into the game when Max Domi fed a wide-open Kane, who roofed it over Sogaard’s shoulder. Kane has a 12-game point streak against the Senators (nine goals, 20 assists) dating back to Dec. 2015.

Derick Brassard sent a point shot that went off Pinto to make it 1-1 7:31 into the second period.

OTTAWA, ON – Chris Neil, the most popular enforcer in Ottawa Senators history, is now forever No. 25 in the rafters at Canadian Tire Centre.

Neil, who was selected in the sixth round (No. 161) of the 1998 NHL Draft, had 250 points (112 goals, 138 assists) in 1,026 NHL games, all for the Senators.

“Playing your entire career with one team, you have a lot of great memories,” Neil said during his speech, “but this one will be forever lasting.”

Neil played with Ottawa from 2001-2017.

“Obviously, I wouldn’t be who I am today if it wasn’t for my mom and dad,” Neil said, visibly emotional. “My mom is not here with us today, but I know she would be so proud. She pushed me to be the best that I could be.”

The Flesherton, Ontario, native began and ended his speech with his signature raise-the-roof arm wave, and the crowd obliged each time.

“When I would get in a fight, which happened quite a bit,” Neil said, “I would raise my hands up after the fight to get the crowd pumped up. But the real truth behind it was to let my mom know I was okay.”

Despite having 2,522 penalty minutes (20th all-time), Neil was never suspended.

“That tells you that he never crossed the line,” Senators general manager Pierre Dorion said. “Came close, but never crossed it.”

Dorion reminisced about the importance of Neil’s presence in Game 5 of the 2017 Eastern Conference Second Round, arguably the most memorable moment of his career.

“If I can tell one story about him,” Dorion said, “we don’t beat the New York Rangers the last time we made the playoffs if Chris Neil is not with us. He came in that series, changed the tone of the series, we beat the Rangers, and Chris had a lot to do with it.”

The Senators didn’t appreciate how New York Rangers forward Tanner Glass had treated Kyle Turris in Game 4, so Neil entered the lineup in Game 5. Glass took an interference penalty on Dion Phaneuf early in the second period, and Neil jumped in to send a message. It cost the Senators a power play, but there were zero complaints from Neil’s teammates.

“That’s the best penalty I’ve seen taken in a long time,” said Turris postgame.

The Senators won Game 5 thanks to Turris’ overtime goal, and went on to win the series.

“How many players played better because Chris played with them over that amount of time in a real tough era?” Ottawa coach D.J. Smith asked rhetorically Friday. “How many buildings did guys go into and get an extra foot or two feet because he was out there?”

You won’t find many of Neil’s teammates who disagree with that sentiment. Wade Redden, a Senators defenseman from 1996-2008, spoke with reporters Thursday.

“I look back to when he first came and joined our team and where we were as a team,” Redden said. “Where we were lacking, he brought a lot of energy and a lot of toughness, obviously.

“He was obviously cut from a different cloth than the rest of us. He brought that to every practice. Every day, he kind of had that energy on and off the ice. And he never shied away from it. He was obviously fighting. He’d take on anyone that would come his way. And he was smart about it, and did it in a way that would benefit the team in the scope of a game.”

Fittingly, Neil wrapped up the ceremony by exiting the ice the way he had done hundreds of times before, raising his arms in the air to pump up the crowd and entering the penalty box.

Neil’s jersey hangs alongside Daniel Alfredsson’s No. 11, Chris Phillips’ No. 4 and Frank Finnigan’s No. 8.

OTTAWA, ON — Tim Stutzle scored the overtime winner, but Mads Sogaard was the hero for most of the Ottawa Senators.

The Senators’ sniper scored the winner at 1:55 of overtime to lead Ottawa to a 4-3 come-from-behind victory over the Calgary Flames Monday night, but Stutzle knew it was only possible thanks to earlier efforts by Sogaard.

With both of Ottawa’s NHL goalies sidelined by injury Sogaard has been called to action and he was solid stopping 34 shots.

Coming into the game the 22-year-old Sogaard had only three NHL games on his resume.

This marked his first win on home ice.

“It’s awesome to be here and awesome to get a win in front of our fans and you know it’s my first win here,” said Sogaard. “I lost the last time I played against Winnipeg so it was a very special moment and something I won’t forget.”

The Senators (25-24-3), who had been average much of the night, trailed 3-1 with just over two minutes remaining in regulation before they rallied to tie the game.

The Flames, who were wrapping up a four-game road trip, came out strong in the third and were rewarded when Dillon Dube was able to pick up his second goal of the night — and 15th of the season — by tipping a Tyler Toffoli shot to take a 3-1 lead, but Ottawa wasn’t quite ready to admit defeat.

With Sogaard on the bench Drake Batherson started the comeback when he was able to get a piece of a Stutzle rebound and 46 seconds later DeBrincat, off a Stutzle pass, tied the game at 3-3.

Stutzle finished the game with a goal and three assists and yet for much of it he looked frustrated.

“A lot of pucks bobbling in the slot and on the power play, too,” said Stutzle. “We had some good looks and the puck bobbled every time we wanted to shoot. … I got really mad there a couple of times, but in the end we figured it out. We did a great job staying with it and big saves by (Sogaard) in OT to keep us in the game.”

The Flames had a fairly different perspective on things.

“We had chances throughout the entire game to essentially put them away, and we didn’t,” said Toffoli. “We let them hang around. They’re a team with a lot of skill and can do what they did.”

Numerous times this season the Senators have had the extra attacker on the ice late in a game looking for the equalizer and fallen short so to score twice was a refreshing change.

“There’s four, five minutes left and you see a few people leaving and before you know it, it’s tied up,” said Batherson. “It’s awesome. We haven’t scored many six-on-five goals since I’ve been here and the place went nuts so it was great to get the win.”

The loss was frustrating for the Flames who played a solid game and likely deserved a better fate.

“I thought we dominated the game,” said Flames coach Darryl Sutter. “I thought we totally dominated puck possession. Whether it’s the next goal or the next save, I thought we were in total control of the game.”

Calgary outshot the Senators 16-6 in the second and came away with the lead.

Tied 1-1 the Flames scored seconds after their power play expired when Toffoli fired a shot to beat Sogaard glove side.

Considering his team’s play in the second period, Senators coach D.J. Smith gave Sogaard plenty of credit.

“He looked really calm,” said Smith. “I mean he’s big, obviously, pucks hit him and he made the saves he had to make. They had plenty of chances and he looked good and obviously made a couple big saves in overtime.”

Despite registering just six shots the Senators controlled play for long stretches, but couldn’t beat Jacob Markstrom.

The Senators got off to a bit of a slow start, but were first on the board when Stutzle fed Tkachuk a great pass to spring him loose for a breakaway goal at the six-minute mark.

Set in front of the net on the power play Dube was able to get a piece of Noah Hanifin’s shot and deflect it past Sogaard to make it 1-1.

OTTAWA, ON — The Ottawa Senators were playing their first game since Jan. 31 while the Edmonton Oilers were playing their third game this week. The outcome wasn’t surprising.

Connor McDavid had a goal and two assists and Zach Hyman scored on a penalty shot to lift the Oilers past the Senators 6-3 on Saturday, snapping Ottawa’s four-game win streak.

Brett Kulak had a pair of assists in the third period as the Oilers broke a 3-3 tie on their way to victory. Kulak made a great cross-ice pass into the Senators zone for Jesse Puljujarvi who beat Anton Forsberg in the Ottawa goal at 3:05 of the third period.

He then sent a pass in front that was literally chopped in by Derek Ryan at 7:24. It was the Oilers second short-handed goal of the game.

“I think we made two critical mistakes and both end up in our net,” Senators coach DJ Smith said. “We’ve got to be harder. We haven’t made those mistakes in the past four games when we’ve been winning. We’ve taken care of the puck, we played hard in front of our net and we just didn’t do that enough to win.”

With 5:23 to play in the third, during a goalmouth scramble that resulted in a power-play goal by Ryan Nugent Hopkins, Forsberg was injured and had to be taken off the ice on a stretcher with an apparent lower-body injury.

“It’s never a pleasant sight. He’s been gritty for us all year. No update but I hope it’s not as severe as it looked. I really hope and praying that it’s not too bad,” Senators captain Brady Tkachuk said. “Just the way he takes care of himself on the ice, off the ice, how great of a pro he is and how good of a person he is too, you never want to see that,”

Mads Sogaard took over in goal for the Senators and stopped all three shots he faced. Forsberg allowed six goals on 37 shots.

Hyman was lying on top of Forsberg at the time of the injury.

“It’s awful. I mean, you hear him going down and you hear him in pain. But you can’t do anything. I literally couldn’t do anything. I’m stuck on him because there’s a guy who’s on top of me pushing me in,” Hyman said.

“It’s not a fun play to be a part of. I almost stopped playing there because I locked eyes with him and he was just in pain. Hope he gets better soon. Just a tough, tough play.”

Ryan McLeod also scored for the Oilers (30-18-5) while Jack Campbell had 26 saves.

Jake Sanderson, Claude Giroux and Erik Brannstrom scored for the Senators (24-24-3).

McDavid scored the only goal of the first period when he banked a shot from behind the goal line off Forsberg and in at 2:18.

“First period we expected that. It’s their third game and it’s our first from break, so we expected their push and their jump. I liked our second period and we gave ourselves a chance for the third. Just a couple of costly mistakes ended up in the back of our net,” Tkachuk said.

The teams combined for five goals in the second period including two at-even strength, a power-play goal and a short-handed goal on the same penalty, as well as a penalty shot marker.

The fun started with Sanderson sliding one along the ice past Campbell just 21 seconds into the period to tie the game 1-1. At 1:44, after being hooked by Alex DeBrincat, Hyman scored on his penalty shot to give the Oilers a 2-1 lead.

With Derek Ryan in the penalty box for hooking, McDavid stole the puck from Thomas Chabot, did a little dance then sent a no-look backhand onto the stick of McLeod who beat Forsberg at 15:18 for a 3-1 Edmonton lead.

“I was just kind of on Chabot right away and just trying to get the puck back somehow and (create) a chance. Got it back and I didn’t like the look I was going to get, tried to find (McLeod), saw him skating up the ice really hard and just tried to find him on the back side,” said McDavid, who extended his point streak to 15 games.

Just 17 seconds later though Giroux scored a power-play goal, and then at 17:58 Brannstrom scored his first goal in 121 games to tie the game 3-3 heading to the third period.

OTTAWA — Claude Giroux scored twice and added an assist as the Ottawa Senators beat the Montreal Canadiens 5-0 Saturday night.

With the win the Senators (23-23-3) are riding a three-game winning streak.

Ottawa was coming off a 6-2 win over Toronto on Friday night. The Senators are now 6-2-0 in their last eight at home and are a perfect 24-for-24 on the penalty kill through that span.

Alex DeBrincat, Mathieu Joseph and Derick Brassard also scored for Ottawa, while Anton Forsberg was solid making 28 saves.

Sam Montembeault stopped 32 shots for the Canadiens (20-26-4). Montreal is now 0-3-2 in its last five games.

This was the second of four meetings between the two teams with the Senators leading the series 2-0.

Trailing 3-0 the Canadiens looked to get back in the game, but were unable to beat Forsberg despite having two power-play opportunities. Joseph added an empty-net goal with just over one minute in regulation leading the numerous Montreal fans on hand to head for the exit and Brassard made it 5-0.

Scoreless after the first period the Senators took control in the second scoring three unanswered goals.

DeBrincat picked up his 16th of the season scoring on a 2-on-1 to open the scoring just 22 seconds into the period.

Giroux then scored a pair of goals, the first coming off a great feed from rookie Ridly Greig on the power play. He then made it 3-0 banking a shot off Montreal’s Arber Xhekaj.

OTTAWA, ON — Claude Giroux’s game-winning goal Wednesday night likely won’t stand out in his mind, but you can bet Ridly Greig will never forget it.

The 20-year-old Greig was making his NHL debut with the Ottawa Senators and Giroux picked up a Greig rebound to score what proved to be the winner against the New York Islanders in a 2-1 victory.

“It was unreal,” Greig said after the game. “You know, obviously a dream come true just to get out there and obviously to get the win it’s pretty good.”

Greig’s debut was impressive as he had eight shots on goal, tying the record for most shots on goal in an NHL debut. His defensive game was also impressive.

“His hockey sense is really high,” said Senators coach D.J. Smith. “He can skate. He’s really competitive. He’s a hockey player. He’s going to be a real good hockey player, it’s just over time is he ready now or not and I’ll tell you tonight he was effective.”

Greig played alongside Giroux, who he idolized as a child, and Alex DeBrincat and made an immediate impact on his coach and teammates.

“He’s fun to play with,” said Giroux. “His game is very mature. I remember my first game, mentally I wasn’t very there so it’s pretty impressive the way he was playing and winning puck battles and we had a good time.”

Shane Pinto also scored for the Senators (21-23-3), who snapped a two-game losing streak. Anton Forsberg, who stopped 22 shots, was called into action in the second period after starter Cam Talbot, who made 14 saves, left the game with a lower body injury.

The Senators will have a better assessment on Talbot on Thursday, but Smith doesn’t expect Talbot to be available to the team before the all-star break.

The Islanders (23-22-5) continue to struggle as their winless streak reached six games (0-4-2). Brock Nelson scored the lone goal for New York, while Semyon Varlamov stopped 36 shots.

“We battled,” said Casey Cizikas. “You can’t take that away. We battled hard. We worked. It’s just unfortunate. We’ve got to find a way to win these games. It’s definitely tough, but we’ve got to dig deep. We’ve just got to find a way.”

Trailing by one goal the Islanders pushed hard for the equalizer with Varlamov on the bench, but Forsberg made a couple of big saves to salvage the win.

“I thought we played well,” said Forsberg. “I thought we fought hard all game for this team. We just stayed with it the whole game and I think that’s the biggest part and I think that’s what we have to do moving forward here to get some more wins.”

Both teams exchanged goals in the second, but the Islanders were able to finish the period with a bit of momentum.

“I thought as the game went on we started to take the game over a little bit, but we just couldn’t find the back of the net,” said Islanders coach Lane Lambert.”

Ottawa took a 2-0 lead with a power-play goal early in the period.

Giroux saw a rebound coming his way and dove to get a shot off and managed to beat Sorokin for his second point of the game. Greig, making his NHL debut, picked up the primary assist on the play.

Having the opportunity to play with Giroux was special, but getting his first NHL point off his goal will definitely be a highlight for a long time.

“It’s pretty awesome,” said Greig. “He was a big part of (me) growing up and I kind of idolized him a bit, so yeah it’s pretty unreal that the point came on that.”

It was also pretty special for Greig as his father, who was at the game, was celebrating his birthday.

OTTAWA, ON — Mark Scheifele scored twice to lead the Winnipeg Jets to a 5-1 win over the Ottawa Senators Saturday night.

Nikolaj Ehlers, Blake Wheeler and Cole Perfetti also scored for Winnipeg (30-16-1). Connor Hellebuyck stopped 25 shots.

Ehlers, who missed 36 games with an abdominal injury, now has 12 points (4G, 8A) in his past nine games since returning to the lineup.

Josh Norris scored the lone goal for the Senators (20-23-3), who continue to struggle defensively. Anton Forsberg made 25 saves.

The Senators were coming off a 4-1 loss to Pittsburgh Friday night, while the Jets were waiting for them in Ottawa.

Winnipeg was playing the third contest of a five-game road trip, but lost its first two to Toronto and Montreal, dropping consecutive games for just the fifth time this season. After losing two games or more the Jets have gone on to win multiple games in a row.

Leading 3-1 to start the third the Jets seemed in full control as Ottawa looked uninspired for stretches.

Despite a full house Senators fans had little to cheer about and headed for the exits as Scheifele scored his second of the game with just under four minutes remaining.

Perfetti’s goal late in the period which put the Jets up 5-1 had no impact on the game, but Wheeler picked up his 900th point with an assist.

Winnipeg scored twice in the second and dominated play for much of the period.

Scheifele scored his 27th of the year on a one-timer at the five-minute mark and some poor defensive coverage by the Senators allowed Wheeler to jump on Ehlers’ rebound to put the Jets ahead 3-1.

The Jets opened the scoring at the six-minute mark of the period on the power play when Ehlers took a feed from Josh Morrissey and tapped it in for his fourth of the season.

Ottawa tied it midway through the period with Claude Giroux winning the offensive zone faceoff and feeding Norris, who one-timed it past Hellebuyck, who didn’t look ready for the shot.

With the assist Giroux reached 40 points for the 14th consecutive season.