Article content
CAPITALS 5, SENATORS 4 (SO)
Article content
Article content
Forgive me, but leaving Washington pointless would have been tarrifying for the Ottawa Senators on Monday night.
While many were keeping their eyes on The White House to see if President Donald Trump would impose his tariffs on Canadian goods entering the United States, the Senators refused to go quietly into the night just down the street at the Capital One Arena.
Advertisement 2
Article content
The Senators came back twice in this game and tied it up with an extra attacker to send it to overtime before Ryan Strome scored the winner to secure a 5-4 victory for the Washington Capitals in the shootout, but Ottawa will take the point.
Captain Brady Tkachuk’s 23rd of the year with 68 seconds left in the third on the power play to tie it up 4-4.
A two-goal effort by centre Shane Pinto, along with a goal by veteran Claude Giroux, allowed the Senators to come storming back to tie it up 3-3 to bring Ottawa back into the game.
“We played the way we know we want to play and we just stuck with the gameplan,” Giroux told TSN 1200’s Gord Wilson. “It feels good to get a point. In a shootout, anything can happen.
“Going into the third, we were down 3-1 but we felt good about our game, but we knew if we kept playing the same way we would get our chances.”
But a bad line change by the Senators allowed Washington’s Martin Fehervary to fire it by Linus Ullmark at 12:43 of the third period to restore the lead for the Caps.
Pinto completed the comeback by scoring his second of the game at 8:01 of the third to tie it up. It was the fifth two-goal game of his career and the club had a 9-0 record when he scored this year.
Sports
Article content
Advertisement 3
Article content
Down 3-1, Giroux pulled his club to within a goal early in the third when he scored his 12th of the season on the power play at 1:05 and that had the Caps on their heels.
Tim Stutzle extended his point streak to 12 straight games with an assist. He also holds the franchise mark with assists in 11 straight.
FIND CONSISTENCY
If the Senators are to make the playoffs, they need to bring the same effort every night.
The club ended a five-game losing skid with a victory over the San Jose Sharks on Saturday at home and can’t afford another one in these final 22 games.
The picture is muddled with eight teams in the mix for two spots but the Senators have shown they won’t throw in the towel.
Pinto ruined Logan Thompson’s shutout bid by getting his club on the board. Pinto went to the net and tipped a perfect pass from Jake Sanderson home on the glove side.
“I thought we battled pretty well. We found a way to get a point against a good team,” said Pinto. “Good starts are important and we have to have better starts.”
The Senators were 1-0-1 against Washington this season heading this one. That came in a couple of weeks at the Canadian Tire Centre when the Senators dropped a 1-0 overtime decision to the Caps on Jan. 16 and then scored a 5-4 victory on Jan. 30.
Advertisement 4
Article content
We apologize, but this video has failed to load.
SAVE THE DAY
Making his fifth straight start, Ullmark is trying to right the ship after scoring his first win since Dec. 19 on Saturday against the Sharks.
Ullmark, 31, came into this game with a 6-5-1 lifetime record against the Caps with a 2.84 goals-against average and a .898 save percentage. He made the saves the club needed.
Tkachuk tried to fire up his troops late in the first by dropping the gloves with Tom Wilson. It was a spirited battle between two heavyweights and it appeared to bring some life to the club.
“I was going after Giroux for old time’s sake … back to the Philly days,” Wilson told Washington reporters. “And then Brady just kinda came over and, I don’t know, felt like it needed to happen.”
The Senators got off to a strong start in the second and owned the territorial play but couldn’t beat Thompson. While they outshot the Caps 9-2 in the first eight minutes, Wilson made the Senators pay by scoring 27th of the season on the power play at 6:53.
That beat Ullmark on the stick side on the power play and he has to make that stop, especially when the Senators were pressing.
Advertisement 5
Article content
ANOTHER BAD START
The Senators dug themselves a hole early and were outshot 19-11 after 20 minutes.
Pierre-Luc Dubois gave the Caps a 2-0 lead only 3:34 into the first when he took a pass from Connor McMichael in a 4-on-4 situation and fired it by Ulmark on the stick side.
Dubois was left alone and untouched by Drake Batherson, which can’t happen.
The Caps opened the scoring at 1:41 on a goal by McMichael. That was the sixth shot Ullmark faced and it came as a result of McMichael pushing a loose puck into the net.
“I don’t like getting down 3-0 but we showed a lot of character coming back,” Green said.
Green challenged for goalie interference but the NHL’s situation room counted the goal.
“McMichael’s position in the crease didn’t impair Ullmark’s ability to play his position,” the league said.
Ullmark robbed Ovechkin with a highlight reel blocker save late in the first with the Caps up 2-0.
Recommended from Editorial
Article content
