Category: HOCKEY

OTTAWA, ON – The Ottawa Senators are looking to take what they can get, however it comes.

Ottawa survived a late rally from the Montreal Canadiens and picked up its third straight win with a 3-2 victory Wednesday night. The win also put the Senators at .500 on home ice (8-8-0).

“We’ll take any win at this point,” said Senators coach D.J. Smith. “You’ve just got to keep clawing and scratching and clawing and grab as many points as you can and hope you get some guys back and keep this thing going.”

Shane Pinto, Drake Batherson and Brady Tkachuk scored for Ottawa (13-14-2), while Alex DeBrincat had three assists. Cam Talbot made 23 saves.

“Obviously they had a good push at the end, but we stay with it,” said Pinto. “Talbot made some good saves and we just stay calm, as much as we could. I know it got a little hectic there, but we got two points so that’s all that matters.”

The Canadian Tire Centre was electric with 19,567 in attendance, but it was often hard to tell who was the home team with numerous Montreal fans on hand.

“When you get both sets of fans in the building, it goes both ways,” admitted Talbot. “It’s pretty fun … these close knit rivalries are always good to be a part of and happy to come out on the winning end of this one.”

The Canadiens (14-13-2) rallied with a pair of third-period goals from Kirby Dach and Christian Dvorak, but were unable to score the equalizer. Sam Montembeault stopped 28 shots.

In many ways, the Canadiens were their own worst enemy taking five minor penalties in the second, with the Senators capitalizing on two of them.

“Our discipline kind of slipped away in the second,” said Dach, who took a double minor late in the period. “I felt like 5-on-5, we were playing our game, we had control. … I obviously take ownership with the penalties I took. The timing of them wasn’t the best.”

“We were just on the penalty kill the whole period,” Dvorak added. “So, it’s tough when you’re doing that.”

Trailing 3-0 in the third, the Canadiens finally solved Talbot at 8:05 of the period, sending the partisan Montreal crowd into a frenzy. Dach glided into the slot and buried a goal off a Jake Evans pass.

The Canadiens made it a one-goal game when Dvorak beat Talbot on a delayed penalty call at 13:12 of the third.

Heading into the second period, the Senators trailed the Canadiens 10-6 in shots. But after 40 minutes, Ottawa not only held a 23-13 edge in shots, but a 3-0 lead.

Montembeault robbed Pinto on a point-blank shot, but moments later, the Senators forward took a great feed from Nikita Zaitsev and scored off the post 1:28 into the second.

Batherson made it 2-0 with a power-play goal at 5:41 of the frame, when he scored through his own legs in front of the net. Tkachuk added Ottawa’s second power-play marker when he tipped home a DeBrincat pass just over two minutes later.

“I didn’t even know it was between the legs until the replay,” said Batherson. “I’ll take it any way they can come though.”

DeBrincat picked up primary assists on all three Ottawa goals to extend his point streak to seven games (three goals, seven assists). Batherson, meanwhile, pushed his point streak to six games (three goals, five assists).

The Canadiens dominated the opening ten minutes of the contest, but couldn’t find a way to beat Talbot.

Montreal head coach Martin St. Louis was visibly frustrated with the start his team had.

“We should have come out of the first with a solid lead,” he said.

OTTAWA, ON – Cam Talbot’s first shutout with the Ottawa Senators may be overshadowed by two devastating injuries.

Talbot earned the victory with an impressive 32-save shutout as the Senators blanked the Anaheim Ducks 3-0 on Monday. But forwards Tim Stutzle and Tyler Motte both left the win early with injuries, forcing Ottawa to play the rest of the game with only 10 forwards.

“We checked real hard,” said Senators head coach D.J. Smith. “The NHL’s not meant for 10 forwards, but give guys credit.

“Guys played out of position, played different positions, played with different linemates and did a real nice job.”

Stutzle went awkwardly into the boards after being hit by Brett Leasonmidway through the first period and favoured his right arm as he raced down the player’s tunnel. Motte then went down hard late in the same period and suffered what the team called an upper-body injury.

Smith had no update on either player following the game.

“Timmy’s a big piece to this team,” said Claude Giroux, who was moved to Ottawa’s first power-play unit in Stutzle’s absence. “He’s one of our best players and I’m not too sure what the status is, but hopefully he’s fine.”

Alex DeBrincat had a pair of power-play goals for Ottawa (12-14-2) and Parker Kelly also scored to support Talbot’s shutout. The Senators goalie said he was partly inspired by a pre-game ceremony honouring former Ottawa defenceman Wade Redden, who became the first player named to the Senators Ring of Honour.

“I haven’t played my best here in front of our fans, but to go out there and do it on a night celebrating Redden in the Ring of Honour it’s a pretty special night for him so feels good to get the win for him too,” said Talbot.

Strangely enough both Talbot and DeBrincat were considered game-time decisions after neither took the morning skate.

“Who needs morning skates, right?” said Talbot with a laugh. “I mean (DeBrincat) didn’t skate either and he came out with two goals so I mean, I think they’re overrated.”

Goaltender Lukas Dostal made his season debut in net for the Ducks (7-19-3). He stopped 35 shots after being recalled from the American Hockey League’s San Diego Gulls.

“Coming from the AHL, you know, at the start, the game’s a little bit different,” said Dostal. “Took me maybe just a couple of minutes to adjust, but as the game went on, I felt pretty good out there, actually.

“Obviously, still upset we lost, but personally, I felt pretty good out there.”

The 22-year-old Dostal made a huge save on Shane Pinto in the second and bailed the Ducks out on a terrible line change late in the same period when the Senators had a 3-on-0 rush.

“(Dostal) played extremely well,” said Anaheim head coach Dallas Eakins. “He made a couple of huge saves. Just an absolutely horrible change in the second period and he made a huge one there, but he was real solid.

” He’s a great kid. He’s a kid that you can cheer for a lot just because of his character, his attitude, how he works.”

Kelly scored his first of the season 5:42 into the game, tipping a Nikita Zaitsev shot past Dostal.

DeBrincat extended his point streak to six games (3G, 4A) with a power-play goal midway through the first.

Redden, who is the first player to be honoured, joins the late Bryan Murray, a former Senators GM and head coach, in the Ring of Honour.

OTTAWA, ON — Brady Tkachuk is as competitive as they come, and he could hardly stomach the lacklustre effort his Ottawa Senators put together Tuesday night in a 5-2 loss to the Los Angeles Kings.

“There’s no explanation, there’s no excuses,” said the visibly frustrated Senators captain. “It’s unacceptable and it’s on us. We just weren’t ready.

“For us to come out that flat and screw (goalie Cam Talbot) like that is just unacceptable. That’s not good.”

The Senators (10-14-1) were coming off two impressive wins and had victories in four of their last five outings.

“Of course, we’ve been having some successes of late so maybe we thought it was going to be easy tonight, but there’s no easy game, there’s no easy moment in the NHL,” Tkachuk said. “It’s unacceptable, it’s as simple as that.”

The Kings (14-10-4) were led by Viktor Arvidsson who had two goals.

Matt Roy, Mikey Anderson and Kevin Fiala also had goals, and Anze Kopitar registered three assists for the Kings, who kicked off a six-game road trip.

Pheonix Copley made 31 saves in his first appearance for L.A.

The 30-year-old goalie has made just 26 starts but collected his third career win over the Senators on Tuesday.

“I felt good,” said Copley. “It was nice. The guys played well in front of me. It’s great to be in the win column.

“I thought (the team) played great, defensively. There were a lot of clears, a lot of blocked shots. If I left rebounds, they were taking care of them.”

Drake Batherson and Thomas Chabot each scored power-play goals for Ottawa, but the home team looked uninspired for long periods of play.

Talbot got chased from goal midway through the second period after allowing five goals on 14 shots. Anton Forsberg stopped all 14 shots he faced in relief.

The Senators were down 2-0 roughly two minutes into the first. Roy scored off a rebound, while Anderson scored from a sharp angle.

The Senators called a timeout and were able to cut the lead in half near the five-minute mark when Batherson roofed a Tim Stutzle rebound on a power play.

The Kings came right back and scored twice more before the end of the period to take a 4-1 lead.

Arvidsson scored his first of the night off a cross-crease pass from Trevor Moore on the power play and picked up his second just past the halfway mark of the period, beating Talbot with a wrister from the circle.

“I thought it was a complete game by everybody,” said Kings coach Todd McLellan. “We didn’t have to rely on just one or two people, starting with the goaltender. I thought he played really well and gave us some confidence.”

Senators coach D.J. Smith took full responsibility when asked why his team started so poorly.

“Just flat,” said Smith. “Gave up way too many chances, didn’t check hard enough. You know, that’s on me. Our preparation to start the game starts with me as the coach and that’s certainly unacceptable, but my job is to make sure these guys are ready to play.”

Batherson felt his coach was letting the team off the hook.

“It’s not on him,” Batherson said. “The game plan was there, and we as a group as players just weren’t ready to go. It has nothing to do with the coaches. They had the game plan all set for us, we just didn’t execute it well.”

The second wasn’t much better for the Senators as they failed to show any real urgency despite trailing 4-1.

The Kings padded their lead midway through the period with a power-play goal when Fiala picked up his ninth of the season.

Chabot picked up his second power-play goal in as many games midway through the third period. But the accomplishment was overshadowed by his team’s play.

“Everybody knows we weren’t ready to play and that’s something as a group that can’t happen,” said Chabot. “Every night we know the way we can play and have success and that’s what we have to do.”

The Senators are heading out for the annual father’s trip where they will face Dallas and Nashville. The dads were on hand for Tuesday’s game and Tkachuk anticipated a quiet ride home with his father by his side.

OTTAWA, ON – The Ottawa Senators seem to have found their footing.

Claude Giroux led the way with a pair of goals and an assist as the Senators picked up a solid 5-2 win over the San Jose Sharks Saturday night. It was Ottawa’s second straight victory and fourth in its last five games.

“We were playing good hockey for a while and we weren’t getting the result … and when you don’t get the results, you start doubting the way we’re playing, but we just have to trust that the way we’re playing is going to work,” said Giroux.

“(Saturday) was a great example of you just have to stick with it.”

Brady Tkachuk, Tim Stutzle and Thomas Chabot also scored for the Senators (10-13-1), while Anton Forsberg made 35 saves.

The team also gave full credit to the 17,101 on hand who were vocal from the start.

“Kudos to the fans and the crowd that gave us that energy,” said Senators coach D.J. Smith. “If it’s a dead crowd or maybe there’s not enough fans here tonight maybe we don’t find this gear. I think the guys felt that, right from the anthem on out.”

Ottawa especially benefitted from going an impressive 3-for-5 on the power play against the best penalty kill team in the league.

“You can’t take that many penalties against that team,” said Sharks coach David Quinn. “Some sloppy stick penalties that we can’t have. It’s frustrating because I thought there were some things in our game that I liked. We had some good chances we didn’t capitalize on.”

Tomas Hertl scored both goals for the Sharks (8-15-4), who are 1-2-0 so far through their four-game road trip that wraps up Sunday. Kaapo Kahkonen stopped 34 shots.

“We find ways to lose,” said Sharks captain Logan Couture. “I’ve said that many times this year. Until we fix that, and find ways to start winning games, it’s not going to be going in the right direction.”

The Senators entered the contest on the heels of an emotional 3-2 overtime win against the New York Rangers Friday night. The Sharks, although having not played since Wednesday, did not look like the more rested team.

Ottawa scored its third power-play goal 5:18 into the third period when Mathieu Joseph fed Chabot to take a 4-2 lead.

Chabot is now up to three power-play goals on the season after entering the campaign with just three for his career. It was also his 200th career point, making him just the fourth Senators defenceman to reach the milestone.

“It’s something I’ve tried to change,” said Chabot of being more productive on the power play. “I think everybody around the league kind of got aware that I’m a pass-first kind of guy and this year I’ve tried to bring more pucks to the net and lucky enough they’ve been going in.”

The Senators’ final goal came as a result of an impressive sequence of events. The Sharks were on a 4-on-3 power play that consisted of numerous chances and Ottawa’s Travis Hamonic being without his stick at a point. But just as the power play expired, Giroux was able to break in alone and fire a slap shot past Kahkonen.

Forsberg made a number of incredible saves in the sequence leading to the goal.

“At the time you’re not really thinking about it too much,” admitted Forsberg. “I see the stick that’s broken and obviously that’s not good for us, but I thought we did a really good job of us just staying there and staying within our box and try to get as many passes as we could and then we got a good bounce and we scored so it was great.”

After trailing 2-1 to start the second, the Senators took a 3-2 lead after 40 minutes.

A brutal giveaway by Matt Benning put the puck on Giroux’s stick and he took full advantage for his 10th of the season at 5:22 of the second period.

Ottawa took the lead at 16:40 of the middle frame with its second power-play goal of the night thanks to a perfect touch pass from Drake Batherson to Stutzle.

Hertl netted his pair of goals in the first period to help the Sharks jump out to an early lead.

The Sharks centre beat Forsberg on the power play 7:26 into the frame to open the scoring.

Tkachuk tied the game with a power-play goal of his own at 10:25 of the period jumping on a rebound in front of Kahkonen.

Thirty-eight seconds later, Hertl scored his second when he was left alone in front and beat Forsberg to restore San Jose’s lead.

OTTAWA, ON – Jimmy Vesey and Barclay Goodrow gave New York a two-goal lead midway through the second period, and the Rangers beat the Ottawa Senators 3-1 on Wednesday night.

Chris Kreider also scored and Ryan Lindgren had three assists to help the Rangers snap a three-game skid — including the last two in which they gave up multi-goal leads at home. Jaroslav Halak stopped 34 shots to get his first win with New York after starting 0-5-1 this season.

Shane Pinto scored and Cam Talbot finished with 33 saves as Ottawa snapped a two-game win streak and lost for the fourth time in six games. The Senators lost for the seventh time in their last eight at home.

Vesey opened the scoring for the Rangers at 10:34 of the first when he jumped on a rebound out front. It was his third of the season and first in nine games.

After an uninspiring first period, both teams raised the intensity level in the second.

The Rangers extended their lead to 2-0 at 10:52 when Lindgren’s shot deflected off Goodrow and in past Talbot.

Ottawa cut the deficit in half with Pinto’s ninth of the season with 6:13 remaining in the middle period. It was the New York native’s first career goal against the Rangers and first in nine games.

The Rangers regained their two-goal lead with 7:01 left in the third when Lindgren, who was left uncontested at the point, had his shot tipped in by Kreider, who was alone in front. It was Kreider’s team-leading 11th.

OTTAWA, ON — As captain of the Ottawa Senators, Brady Tkachuk was willing to take the blame for his team’s 5-1 loss to the New Jersey Devils on Saturday afternoon.

The reality is the Senators just weren’t good enough against the NHL’s hottest team.

The Devils (15-3-0) have now won 12 straight and were better in every aspect of the game on this day.

“Disappointed overall with the way we played,” said Tkachuk. “We just weren’t ready to play from the start.

“For us as players it’s a Saturday afternoon, it’s close to a sellout, so it’s on us. It’s on us for not getting ready. It’s on me for not helping my group get ready so I’ll take responsibility for that one and there was times tonight when we played solid, played our game, but it wasn’t enough.”

Ottawa (6-10-1) has struggled of late, winning just twice in its last 11 (2-8-1). Late in the game a faint chant of “Fire D.J.” could be heard. Fans have been calling for the dismissal of head coach D.J. Smith the last couple of weeks.

“I see it all the time and I’m sick of the negativity towards that,” Tkachuk said. “It’s nobody to blame but ourselves, the players. We just weren’t ready to play today and that’t my job to get everybody ready and I’m sick and tired of seeing all this negativity on social media and all that. It’s not one person, it’s the group in here that needs to figure it out.”

The Devils took control when Erik Haula opened the scoring with a power-play goal early in the first period for his first of the season. Nathan Bastian made it 2-0 late in the first jumping on a rebound out front.

The Devils didn’t let up, making it 3-0 early in the second when Jesper Boqvist grabbed a puck out front putting an end to Anton Forsberg’s afternoon. The Senators goaltender allowed three goals on 18 shots.

“I thought tonight was a total team game,” said Devils head coach Lindy Ruff. “We got production, we got a key shorthanded goal from (Yegor) Sharangovich, but all four lines were in on it. I thought our defence played well and, again, our goaltender made some big saves at key times.”

Cam Talbot, who allowed one goal on 17 shots, made a huge save on Bastian late in the period and when Derick Brassard got the Senators on the board late in the period, it seemed like they were finally grabbing some momentum, but the Devils came right back scoring a shorthanded goal with 34 seconds remaining in the period.

“That’s the difference right there,” Tkachuk said of the short-handed goal. “Started with (Talbot) making that unbelievable save, (Brassard) getting the goal and then the power play has an opportunity to make it a one-goal game going into the third period. All the responsibility falls on us. That definitely deflated because you could feel the momentum swing in our direction and the fans getting back into it, but, yeah, that was a turning point.”

Michael McLeod added an empty-net goal late in the game to round out the scoring for New Jersey.

“We were just resilient,” said Haula. “There were a couple holes in our game, I thought, where we got a little bit comfortable and that’s when they kind of took it to us a little bit and got some chances, but overall, good for (Akira) Schmid, great game from him, and 12 in a row, we’ve got to feel good about this one.”

Schmid made 25 saves for the Devils.

The Senators now have the lofty task of trying to win out west where they will face San Jose, Vegas, Anaheim and Los Angeles.

“It’s huge for our season,” said Smith. “I think we’ve played a lot better of late. We’ve got four good teams out west to get ourselves together and you’re going to have to be good on the road.”

OTTAWA, ON – It wasn’t the most impressive victory but it was enough to give the struggling Ottawa Senators a boost of confidence.

The Senators (6-9-1) snapped a five-game home losing streak with a 4-1 win over the Buffalo Sabres Wednesday night. Alex DeBrincat, Austin Watson, Brady Tkachuk and Tim Stutzle, with an empty-net goal, scored for Ottawa.

“It brings a lot of confidence,” said Anton Forsberg, who made 29 saves. “The points haven’t gone our way so far so we have to keep building on it, trust the process and trust our game and stick with it no matter what happens and just keep on working.”

With a combined 14 minor penalties, both teams struggled to generate any real momentum. Ottawa took five penalties in the first period, but still managed to take a 1-0 lead into the break on Watson’s 50th career goal.

“I don’t think I’ve ever killed so many penalties in the first two periods of a game … but credit to our penalty killers starting with (Forsberg) who made some awesome saves,” said Watson. “Killing a couple off there early kind of gave us our mojo a little bit on the kill.

“That special teams battle is often times the difference in the game.”

The Sabres went 1-for-8 with the man advantage and only had a total of six shots on the power play. Tage Thompson scored the lone goal for Buffalo (7-10-0), which is now mired in a seven-game losing streak.

“Our power play didn’t look good tonight,” said Sabres head coach Don Granato. “Even after the entry, we hurried things, we forced things, we went individual too quickly. That’s something we have to take a quick look at.”

With plenty of missed chances, Buffalo knows it needs to keep things simple and not get up in the losses as the team tries to turn things around.

“I think we’re gripping the stick too much,” said defenceman Rasmus Dahlin. “We have our chances, but we can’t really execute right now. We need more swagger to our game. I don’t know how many chances, but we had a ton today.”

Sabres goaltender Eric Comrie, who stopped 22-of-24 shots, started the game but was replaced by Craig Anderson after being part of a collision midway through the second.

Anderson, who previously spent 10 seasons with Ottawa, returned to Canadian Tire Centre for the first time since parting ways with the Senators in 2020. He was honoured with a video tribute during the first intermission.

“I just tried not to be emotional,” admitted Anderson, who made 14 saves. “I spent a lot of time here, and seeing some of the memories, it was nice to kind of flash back on. It’s in the past. I definitely enjoyed it. A great part of my life, a great time in my life. I’m thankful for that. It was great to kind of relive the moment and kind of be remembered. It was nice.”

Trailing 2-1 to start the third, Buffalo pushed for the equalizer with JJ Peterka hitting the crossbar early in the period. However, DeBrincat made it 3-1 at 14:21 into the frame with his fifth of the season.

“One goal-game going into the third period and we did a good job and stuck with it the whole game so it’s a good win for us,” said DeBrincat. “It’s hard to get a flow when we’re always in the box or they’re in the box for that matter. It’s hard to get that five-on-five consistency, but I thought we did a good job sticking with it.”

After going 0-for-5 on the man advantage in the first period, the Sabres finally capitalized on their sixth power play to tie the game 1-1. Thompson fired a bullet from the faceoff circle for his team-leading 12th of the season 6:41 into the second.

Jean-Gabriel Pageau’s third period goal led the New York Islanders to a 4-2 win over the Ottawa Senators Monday night.

With just one victory in their last nine games (1-7-1), the Senators had been looking to build off a win against Philadelphia Saturday afternoon, but fell short.

They could easily throw their hands up in frustration, but forward Claude Giroux said the team is instead focusing on the positives.

“I think we did a lot of good things,” said Giroux. “We had a lot of chances, we played well offensively and I thought we were going to come back and tie it up.”

Ottawa had opportunities, but went 1-for-6 with the man advantage, scoring their lone power-play goal on a five-on-three.

“They have a good power play, but we were well-prepared and I thought the guys battled hard,” said Pageau. “A lot of sacrifice, a lot of blocked shots, a lot of battles that we won, and (Semyon Varlamov) in net was outstanding. He made some really amazing saves for us.”

Varlamov made 36 saves for the Islanders, while Brock Nelson, Noah Dobson and Oliver Wahlstrom also scored (11-6-0). Drake Batherson and Giroux scored for the Senators (5-9-1), as Cam Talbot stopped 31 shots.

Senators coach D.J. Smith couldn’t fault his team for its effort but said they need to take advantage of opportunities.

“It’s not for a lack of chances or effort,” said Smith.

“I think if you go back there’s going to be some grade “A” ones that [Varlamov] stops. That’s not going to happen every night. There’s going to be nights where the power play’s no good and it’s unorganized. That wasn’t the case. We’ve got to find a way to get the second one there on the power play and go 2-for-6 and then we have to kill the penalty in the third period.”

The Islanders took a 1-0 lead on Wahlstrom’s power-play goal midway through the first period.

Ottawa managed to tie the game during a brief two-man advantage midway through the second period. Batherson one-timed a pass from Tim Stutzle to score his second goal in 11 games.

The Islanders regained the lead late in the period when Ottawa failed to clear the puck, and Dobson was able to pick it up inside the blue line. The Islanders defenceman fired a puck that then deflected off Ottawa’s Mark Kastelic and past Talbot.

Leading 2-1 to open the third it was a familiar foe who gave the Islanders a two-goal lead midway through the period. Pageau, a fan favourite during his time in Ottawa, picked up a rebound in front and scored a power-play goal to make it 3-1.

Giroux then scored to cut the lead to one, 3-2, at the 13-minute mark off a behind-the-back pass from Brady Tkachuk.

With Talbot pulled for the extra man Ottawa looked for the equalizer, but Nelson scored an empty-net goal to seal the victory.

“We had two good chances at the end of the game, but there was lots of time left and we have to hold on to the puck and wait until there’s a breakdown,” said Giroux. “It’s something we’ve worked on, but something we have to keep working on.”

New York is now 6-0-0 for scoring the first goal of the game.

“It’s nice to score the first goal, that’s for sure,” said Islanders head coach Lane Lambert. “We’ve had some comebacks, too, but tonight I thought we did a really good job with the lead and it was really a character win. We fought through a lot of adversity tonight.”

A rare 5:30 p.m. start for the Senators allowed fans to watch Daniel Alfredsson’s induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

The early start made for a small crowd, but they showed their respect for Alfredsson, who has spent 17 seasons with the Senators, by chanting his name at 11:11 of each period.

The induction was shown on the big screen following the game and numerous players joined fans to watch Alfredsson’s acceptance speech, including current Senators captain Brady Tkachuk.

“He’s a legend here and it was important for us to show our support to him and almost say thank you for everything he’s done for us,” said Tkachuk. “It’s an amazing accomplishment and achievement that he gets to celebrate with family and friends. It’s well deserved.”

OTTAWA, ON — The Vancouver Canucks got a bit of a reprieve Tuesday night, while the downward slide for the Ottawa Senators continued.

Bo Horvat scored twice as the Canucks came back twice from a goal down for a 6-4 win over the Senators in a battle of struggling NHL clubs.

Connor Garland had two assists in the win as the Canucks opened a five-game road trip with just their fourth win in 13 games.

“It wasn’t maybe the prettiest win, but we’ve had a lot of good games where we haven’t won this year. We owe a lot of thanks to our goaltender (Spencer Martin) tonight, for sure, especially in the first couple of periods, keeping us in it,” Horvat said.

“We’re just trying to be mentally tough. It’s been a mental grind for a lot of this year and a lot of mental lapses by us. I thought we stayed mentally strong tonight.”

Horvat scored from the top of the crease 1:16 into the third period to break a 2-2 tie and Oliver Ekman-Larsson scored on the power play at 8:18 to give the Canucks a 4-2 lead. The goal was originally credited to Brock Boeser.

Tim Stutzle got a power-play goal at 14:03 to pull the Senators to within a goal at 4-3, but Jack Studnicka capitalized on an Ottawa turnover in their own end to give the Canucks a 5-3 lead at 14:59.

Claude Giroux scored to make the score 5-4 with another power-play goal for the Senators, this one at 17:09. Elias Pettersson ended the late madness with an empty-net goal at 19:15.

Ilya Mikheyev also scored for the Canucks (4-6-3), while Martin made 37 saves for the win.

The Senators (4-8-0), who have now lost six straight, got their other goals from Drake Batherson and Travis Hamonic along with a 22-save performance from Cam Talbot.

“We have to work for our breaks, work for our chances and bear down. That’s all we can do,” Hamonic said.

“We’re scoring some goals, we just have to buckle down on our opportunities, not just offensively but defensively as well when we get the chance to make the right play.”

The Senators put in a dominating performance in the second period that included a 19-8 advantage in shots, but it was the Canucks who scored the lone goal of the period.

Mikheyev tied the game 2-2 at 13:50 of the second as he took a pass from Quinn Hughes and beat Talbot in tight.

“We just didn’t get the job done. We looked very confident in the second period. We looked very confident in the first period, but then when you get into the third period we just didn’t make the plays we needed to make. We turned pucks over and we gave them two goals,” Senators coach DJ Smith said.

“We probably could have scored four or five in the second and we didn’t. We have to stick to it if you want to get out of this.”

The beginning and the end of the first period were hectic as the Senators scored in the opening minute while both teams netted a goal in the final minute.

After Alex DeBrincat beat out an icing call he got the puck behind the net and found Batherson alone for the game’s first goal just 50 seconds in.

“I’ve been in those situations a ton of times before. I didn’t get here laying down. Just kind of kept it going with some confidence,” Brown said about not letting the quick goal get to him.

The teams went scoreless for much of the period after that until Horvat tied the game for the Canucks at 19:07. The tie was short-lived as Hamonic beat Martin with a point shot just 16 seconds later.

OTTAWA, ON — Claude Giroux scored a milestone goal against his former team, but the Philadelphia Flyers spoiled the celebration with a 2-1 win over the Ottawa Senators Saturday night.

The game was Giroux’s first against his former team, but he doesn’t have much to boast about as the loss now has the Senators (4-7-0) mired in a five-game losing streak.

Giroux’s goal was the 300th of his career. He has now scored a goal against every team in the NHL.

The former Flyers captain said he was not happy about the loss, “but I’ll wake up tomorrow and it is what it is.”

“We’re in a little hole, but I’ve been in bigger holes before and come out of it, so right now I’m very frustrated, but not worried about it,” Giroux said.

Facing off against their former captain was a little odd, but also satisfying for the Flyers to come out with a win.

“To be honest, I’ve been in those situations before,” said Kevin Hayes. ”(Giroux) is a close friend of mine, it might be a little different for him, but it’s not really for me. I’m playing for the Flyers. That’s the team I want to win.”

Zack MacEwen’s second-period goal held up as the winner, while Kevin Hayes also scored for the Flyers (6-3-2). Carter Hart was solid stopping 31 shots.

Giroux scored the lone goal for the Senators, while Cam Talbot, making his first start for the Senators, made 26 saves.

Trailing 2-1 in the third, Ottawa had a chance for the equalizer after Travis Sanheim was called for interference on Giroux at the 13-minute mark, but failed to capitalize on the power play.

The Senators will look at the second period as a missed opportunity. Ottawa had three power plays and failed to take advantage or create many scoring chances.

The Flyers broke the 1-1 tie with just under two minutes remaining in the second period when Ottawa got hemmed in its own end. MacEwen grabbed a loose puck and wristed it past Talbot.

The lead didn’t last long as the Flyers evened the score with a power-play goal as Hayes tipped a Tony DeAngelo shot.

“It comes down to special teams” said Senators coach D.J. Smith. “They score on their power play and we go 0-for-5. The game’s on the line and you get a power play in the third period. We’ve got to find a way to put it in.”

OTTAWA, ON — Although moral victories don’t appear in the win column, the Ottawa Senators seemed to have taken one in finding their desired identity and level of play.

Despite a valiant comeback effort, the Senators fell 5-4 to the Vegas Golden Knights Thursday night. Ottawa trailed 5-1 at the midway mark of the second period before finding its way back and just falling short of tying the game up late.

“If you play like the way we played in the second and third period you’re going to win a lot of games,” said Senators head coach D.J. Smith. “There’s no such thing as moral victories in sports, but you get that effort from the guys that we got tonight and you’ll start winning a lot of hockey games.”

“That’s the identity we want to play with, is the second and third there,” added Ottawa captain Brady Tkachuk, who had two assists. “Unfortunately, we just got down too much where we couldn’t come back from. That second and third period I think is some of the best hockey we played all year … there’s a lot of positives to take from tonight.”

The Senators (4-6-0) are now on a four-game losing streak while the Knights’ (10-2-0) victory makes it six in a row for them.

Mark Stone, Reilly Smith, Zach Whitecloud, Chandler Stephenson and William Carrier each scored for Vegas. Logan Thompson made 42 saves for the Knights.

Claude Giroux and Tim Stutzle both recorded a pair of goals for Ottawa. Anton Forsberg allowed all five goals on 19 shots before Cam Talbot, making his season and Senators debut, came in and made 13 saves.

“We just let them off the hook,” said Stone. “I think we just kind of thought the game was over. We started trying to make plays, and if you look at the goals we’re scoring, we’re getting on the forecheck, making them make turnovers, and then we fell into that trap and started doing it to ourselves.

“You definitely want to learn from it. That was not a perfect game from us by any means.”

Stone opened the scoring against his former team just 1:22 into the game, picking up a loose puck in front and scoring.

Under three minutes later, Giroux had a fortunate bounce work in his favour.

Looking to go off on a line change, Giroux shot the puck from just over centre ice and scored as the bounce of the puck fooled Thompson.

“I’ve probably tried that over 500 times in my career and it never went in,” said Giroux. “When it went in, it was overdue. I get pretty excited when I see a goal like that.”

Smith added a power-play goal at the midway mark of the period. With just 31.6 seconds remaining in the first, Stone made a cross-crease pass to Whitecloud for his first of the season to give Vegas a 3-1 lead.

Stephenson’s short-handed goal made it 4-1 for the Knights just over five minutes into the second. A few minutes later, a brutal giveaway by Alex DeBrincat allowed Carrier to walk in alone on Forsberg and beat him through the legs.

That marked the end of Forsberg’s night.

However, the Senators managed to pull within two by the end of the period.

As the power play was expiring, Jake Sanderson made a cross-ice pass to Giroux who made it 5-2 with his second of the night at 14:23.

With less than two minutes remaining in the period, Thompson thought he had stopped a Tkachuk shot, but the puck trickled through his pads and Stutzle pushed it over the goal line for his second of the season.

Ottawa made it a one-goal game 2:34 into the third when Stutzle took advantage of a Knights turnover and played a give-and-go with Tkachuk before scoring his second of the night.

Vegas had an opportunity to pad its lead on a 5-on-3 advantage that lasted 59 seconds, but Talbot made two huge saves for the Senators.

“That was a big point in the game,” Talbot said of the two-man advantage. “At that point not a lot of action so far and I just went out there and battled with the three guys in front of me. So that’s all you can really do when the power play is snapping like that — is just stay patient as possible and throw your body in front of it when you can.”

OTTAWA, ON – Call it a missed opportunity.

The Ottawa Senators had the chance to sweep their five-game homestand, but instead fell 4-2 to the Minnesota Wild on Thursday night.

Trailing 3-2 late in the game, the Senators (4-3-0) couldn’t capitalize on a late power play as pulling the goalie for an extra attacker failed to give them the advantage they were hoping for.

“We get eight points out of 10, but I just think we let one slip a little bit here tonight,” said Ottawa coach D.J. Smith. “Take nothing away from them, but you know you’d like to get a point. You’ve got your six best guys out there at the end and if we find a way to score there, you’re in overtime and maybe you steal one.”

Alex DeBrincat and Thomas Chabot each scored for the Senators. Anton Forsberg, who had missed Monday’s game with an undisclosed ailment, stopped 36 shots.

Coming into Thursday’s game, Ottawa had outscored its opponents 22-11 during its four-game winning streak.

Frederick Gaudreau scored his first of the season into an empty net to secure the victory for the Wild. Ryan Hartman’s first of the year in the second period proved to be the winner. Mats Zuccarello and Kirill Kaprizov also scored for Minnesota (3-3-1).

Marc-Andre Fleury made 27 saves in the victory.

“I really liked the way that all four lines contributed in their own way, but yet they all contributed in the same way as far as doing the right things, getting pucks deep, staying on the right side, not allowing odd man rushes,” said Wild coach Dean Evason. “I don’t remember an odd man rush tonight. We were committed to doing the right things, and we did.”

Ottawa found success early in the third when it made the most of a two-man advantage. Just over four minutes into the period, DeBrincat found a wide-open Chabot for his second goal in as many games.

The Wild dominated the second period.

Minnesota controlled play for much of the period, outshooting the Senators 17-8. Hartman scored his first of the season to make it a 3-1 game 4:25 into the frame.

“They came out hard,” said Forsberg. “We know how they play. They play hard and spend a lot of time in our zone and throw a lot of pucks at the net.

“I didn’t think I did quite a good job myself to have those rebounds, there was a bit too many for me I think. I want to hold on to those to give the guys a break so I’m not really happy with that.”

Fleury made key stops when Ottawa did have chances, including three huge saves late in the period with the Senators on the power play.

“He’s done it for 20 years now, so it’s not surprising,” said Zuccarello. “I played a lot against him through the years. He’s been unbelievable for us.”

DeBrincat opened the scoring 3:47 into the first, beating Fleury glove side. The Wild answered scoring twice to finish the period leading 2-1.

With Forsberg screened, Zuccarello had a clear lane for his fifth of the season 7:53 into the frame. Kaprizov gave the Wild the lead with 1:36 left in the period, tipping Jared Spurgeon’s point shot.

Fleury preserved the lead with a glove save on DeBrincat with 17 seconds remaining in the period.

The two had been teammates in Chicago last season. The mutual respect between the two made the save that much better for Fleury.

“Yeah, he got that first one, I owed him,” said Fleury. “Sometimes it’s worse when it’s guys that you played with, right? You kind of know their tendencies, but they know that you know.

“So, they switch it up or whatever. I just tried to react and stay patient. But he’s obviously a very talented player.”

DeBrincat could only look up in disbelief after Fleury made the save, but in many ways wasn’t totally surprised.

“Like I said, he never gives up on the play,” DeBrincat said. “I’ve definitely seen that a couple times. I thought I had him beat and he was there to stop it, so you know, sometimes you’ve got to tip your cap and he made a good save there.”