RELIEF: Senators end streak with win over Penguins

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Senators 6, Penguins 3

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The only option for the Ottawa Senators on Saturday night was to dig deep and gut one.

Mission accomplished.

Battling a COVID-19 outbreak that has left them with nine players on the protocol, the Senators stopped the six-game losing steak by scoring a 6-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins to 14,661, second. -more crowd of the season at the Canadian Tire Center.

Led by a four-point night from Drake Batherson along with a strong effort from Filip Gustavsson at the net, the Senators earned their first win over the Penguins at home since December 8, 2018. Tim Stuetzle scored his first goal in 13 games this season, while Zach Sanford, Michael Del Zotto and Parker Kelly also scored on Pittsburgh backup goalkeeper Casey DeSmith.

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However, this was not an easy victory for the senators, as the Penguins scored three goals after Batherson had given the home club a 5-0 lead early in the third period. His second of the night on the empty net put out Pittsburgh’s comeback.

There was some concern when Kasperi Kapanen and Evan Rodrigues put the Penguins on the board with two goals in a 1:04 span earlier in the third period. While the Senators called a timeout with 7:05 left to fix things a bit, Rodrigues scored his second of the game with 4:03 left to lead Pittsburgh to two goals at 5-3.

Not all the news was good because the Senators lost center Shane Pinto in the second period after he again injured a shoulder that had kept him out for nine games. The extent of the damage was unknown, but it sure didn’t look like Pinto would be back anytime soon, and if there is structural damage to the shoulder, surgery will be necessary.

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With Nikita Zaitsev back on COVID-19 protocol after being briefly removed during the day, senators are dealing with their share of adversity. They were trying to get through a second day in a row without a positive test, but that only lasted until Zaitsev tested positive again.

Jacob Bernard-Docker, called Saturday morning from Belleville, made his National Hockey League season debut with Ottawa. That meant the only defenders who had adjusted to opening night against Toronto and were still in the lineup were Thomas Chabot and Artem Zub because defense has been where the senators have been the toughest.

Head coach DJ Smith told the players a couple of days ago to make sure they put in the effort.

“The most important thing to me was that there was no blame for how this virus ended up with us and continues to spread,” Smith said. “I know the doctors are doing everything they can to separate the boys. We are not practicing and we are doing our best to get through this together.

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“We just have to give everything we have on the ice. I have to give them credit because the last two games we have been playing hard and we could have had a different result. We’re not going to cry about it and this will change as these guys come back, the work ethic and mindset of how hard it is to win a game in the NHL when we get our talent back will help us keep going. “

Ottawa took control of this game in the second half, exploding for four goals that broke what had been a 0-0 draw.

No one enjoyed it more than Stuetzle, who eventually took the jumpsuit off his back. He scored his first of the season at 17:49 of the second, firing a DeSmith shot from the left side circle. That was his first goal since May 15 of last season, ending a 15-game losing streak, and it was only his second goal at home in Ottawa, so it was good that there were fans in the building for this one.

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Two goals in a span of 27 seconds turned out to be the key for the senators. Kelly’s second goal came after he took a pass and beat DeSmith on the stickside at 11:07. Del Zotto’s first goal for Ottawa came on the power play when he fired a shot through traffic from the spot at 10:40.

Ottawa scored twice in the power play overall, and those were the first two goals the Penguins allowed with the man advantage in road games all season.

The Senators took a 1-0 lead at 5:21 of the second. It was then that Sanford put in a great second effort pushing his way through traffic to convert a rebound against DeSmith. That marked the seventh time this season that the Senators scored the opening goal and Bernard-Docker received his first NHL assist on the play.

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That happened just moments after the senators killed Pittsburgh’s third power play of the night. Earlier, Pittsburgh’s Jeff Carter thought he had beaten Gustavsson with a high shot, even celebrating, but the puck hit the crossbar and was left out.

The Senators and the Penguins played a scoreless draw in the first period.

Yes, Gustavsson helped the Senators make a couple of quick saves, and the key was to kill a 5v3 power play by the Penguins for 1:38 at the end of the period. With Brady Tkachuk and Sanford in the area, the Penguins only had one shot from the long two-man lead.

Senators will host the Calgary Flames on Sunday at 5 p.m.

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