Brady Tkachuk’s winner does the trick as Senators win third straight

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SENATORS 4, ISLES 3 (OT)

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A tip of the cap to the captain.

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Brady Tkachuk completed his third career hat-trick as the Ottawa Senators extended their winning streak to three straight games with a 4-3 overtime victory over the New York Islanders Saturday afternoon at UBS Arena.

Tkachuk took a pass from Shane Pinto and fired a blast by Semyon Varlamov to give the club the win on the power play. Ridly Greig also chipped in while Joonas Korpisalo made 26 stops and Tim Stutzle had three assists.

“It was a great comeback for our team. We’ll take on it and build on it tomorrow,” Tkachuk told TSN 1200’s Gord Wilson. “No matter the moment in the game, if there’s an opportunity we’ve been capitalizing on them. It’s a credit to the guys sticking together and going every single shift.”

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This was a nailbiter and the Isles refused to back down.

With Mathieu Joseph in the box, the Isles scored with Varlamov out for the extra attacker and a 6-on-4 advantage. Bo Horvat fired a blast from the point by a screened Korpisalo to tie it up 3-3 with 37.2 seconds left and send this one to OT.

Tkachuk scored his second of the game on the power play to give the club the lead at 12:14 of the third. He took a pass from Stutzle and fired a blast by Varlamov to give the Senators a 3-2 advantage and it’s the second straight game Ottawa has come back trailing in the third.

“He had a great game. It’s a good example for the rest of the players,” interim coach Jacques Martin said of Tkachuk. “You put pucks at the net, and there’s a chance they’ll go in. I also thought our (defence) gave us a strong game. We made it difficult for them to enter our zone.”

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Greig tied it up 2-2 with 6:35 left in the second. He completed a beauty give-and-go with Stutzle to beat Varlamov. That was Greig’s 10th of the year and broke a 16-game drought without a goal. The last time Greig scored was Feb. 13 against the Jackets.

THIS N’ THAT

Korpisalo just seems to give up one bad goal in every game and this one was no different. Tied 1-1 late in the second, the Isles took a 2-1 lead on the strength of Kyle Palmieri’s 21st of the season. He fired a shot that beat Korpisalo through the five-hole at 16:22. There was delayed reaction by everyone the building _ including Palmieri _ because nobody could believe that Korpisalo didn’t make the save. Those kinds of goals have to be tough on Korpisalos teammates but he stepped up to get the job done the rest of the way… There was concern when defenceman Jake Sanderson went to the room briefly in the third after getting tripped by New York’s Anders Lee. Sanderson couldn’t put any weight on his right leg, but returned.

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OFF THE GLASS

The Isles are battling for a playoff spot and went more than nine minutes during the second without recording a shot … Tkachuk tied it up 1-1 at 11:46 of the first with No. 28 of the season. He took a pass and fired a blast by Varlamov top shelf that he had no chance on. That gave this game some life because up until then it felt like a good time for a little afternoon nap … There wasn’t a whole lot in the way of chances, but Varlamov did make a big stop on Greig midway through the second … Isles’ coach Patrick Roy has a lot of respect for the job Martin has done with Ottawa. “Jacques Martin is a very well structured coach,” Roy said. “It’s a young group and they’ve got a lot of talent. They’re a bit like Buffalo, they love the transition and they’re not afraid to take chances.” The Senators are 17-18-4 since Martin took over Dec. 19 …. The Senators couldn’t do anything with a late power play and trailed 1-0 after the first.

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THE FINAL BUZZER

Korpisalo made a huge glove stop on Mathew Barzal with 9:39 left in the first. Later in the first, he hit the goal post … The Senators have a terrible habit of giving up early goals and Saturday was no different. Korpisalo made the first stop, but he couldn’t do anything on the second shot at Matt Martin opened the scoring. He circled the net and beat Korpisalo on the glove side because he couldn’t get across the crease at 4:27. That ended a 126-minute shutout streak for New York … The Isles got the first power play after Parker Kelly knocked the stick out of Sebastian Aho’s hand in the first. That came only 2:24 in the first and was a questionable call that led to the opening goal … This was the first time Pinto had a chance to play at home since he returned from his 41-game suspension for breaking the NHL’s gambling rules. He grew up only minutes away from the Isles’ home in Franklin Square, N.Y. The club has a 36-8-6 record when Pinto records a point. “I thought we had good composure throughout the game. We stuck with it and that’s all that matters,” said Pinto, who had more than 50 friends and family on hand.

bgarrioch@postmedia.com

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