Claude Giroux caps comeback for Senators with OT winner

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The Ottawa Senators refused to throw in the towel Monday night.

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The Senators battled back from a disastrous first period as Claude Giroux scored the overtime winner to complete the come back as the club scored a dramatic 4-3 victory over the Nashville Predators in front of 16,284 at the Canadian Tire Centre.

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Giroux fired a blast home on a pass from Tim Stutzle as the Senators left the ice with wide smiles to celebrate the win.

“We talked in here (after the first). It happens. We have a strong belief and we knew we just had to stick with it,” said Stutzle. “I know how I felt, and I don’t know how the other guys felt, but after the first I knew we were coming back. Just the way we were talking in the room.

“Guys stood up and said we’ve got to help our goalies out and do a better job.”

Three of the club’s last four home games advanced to overtime.

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Captan Brady Tkachuk chipped in with a two-point effort while Stutzle and Drake Batherson also scored as the Senators had a much better effort than a 7-2 loss to the New York Rangers on Saturday to close out this home stand.

“It’s great to see how we responded. We didn’t change the game, we didn’t try to do too much and we just let the game come to us. When we got our chances we were able to score,’ Giroux said.

Life would be much easier for the Senators if they could find some consistency with the power play. Nashville goalie Juuse Saros was given a rare tripping penalty in the third and the Senators weren’t able to take advantage of the chance.

Ottawa went 0-for-3 with the man-advantage.

BATTLING BACK

After giving up three goals on 11 shots in the first, Mads Sogaard had a seat at the bench for the rest of the game.

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It’s the second straight game Martin has been forced to make a goaltending change after Joonas Korpisalo was pulled after giving up four goals on four straight shots against the Rangers.

Korpisalo made 18 stops in the win and it’s the first time a replacement has won a game since Dec. 1, 2017 when Mike Condon scored a win.

Tkachuk’s 21st of the season tied it up 3-3 heading to the third. Shooting from his knees, he one-timed a faceoff win by Josh Norris by Saros at 17:10 of the second.

Suddenly, this was a game and the club was getting the necessary stops.

“Our goaltending made some big saves and some key saves. I thought we played pretty well,” said coach Jacques Martin.

THIS ’N’ THAT

Fans were booing loudly when Ridly Greig was given an embellishment penalty late with 20 seconds left in the second. Nashville’s Jeremy Lauzon got a slashing penalty and Greig got speared in the groin area …. Stutzle’s 11th of the year was a beauty. He took a pass and fired it by Saros from the slot at 9:20. Suddenly, this was a game with the Predators clinging to a one-goal lead and the Senators pushing the pace. Just moments earlier, Korpisalo made a big glove stop … Batherson brought some life back into a quiet building when he got the Senators on the board at 5:21 of the second. He went to the net, picked up a loose puck and beat a sprawling Saros to cut Nashville’s lead to two goal.

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DROPPING THE PUCK

It could have been worse than 3-0 after the first. With only a minute left in the period, Yakov Trenin tipped a shot by Dante Fabbro by Sogaard and that was the 10th consecutive goal the club had given up in a span of 50 minutes. Trenin did a good job getting to the net. … Alternate captain Thomas Chabot wasn’t at his best as Philip Tomasino skated around him to beat Sogaard upstairs to extend Nashvile’s lead to 2-0 at 16:30. Chabot has to slow that guy down and Sogaard has to make the stop so both have to be better… Sogaard didn’t look good on the opening goal by Nashville’s Michael McCarron. Preds’ D Roman Josi threw a puck into the zone that took a bounce off the glass and into McCarron in the slot. He was able to one-time a blast that Sogaard should probably have stopped … Ottawa had a man-advantage early in the first, but only recorded one shot and that came just as McCarron was leaving the box. The Senators had a tough time getting set up in the Predators zone … Mark Borowiecki, an Ottawa native and a former Senators’ defenceman, is working as a pro development coach with Nashville after retiring. Sunday he was presented with a heavy bag that highlighted the 458 games of his career.

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THE FINAL BUZZER

The trade deadline is set for March 8 and there as no shortage of pro scouts on press row to take in this one.

Of course, that may have been influenced by the fact this was the only game on the schedule, but the Senators are prepared to be sellers in just over five weeks so teams are getting another peek before the break.

The Philadelphia Flyers, Boston Bruins, Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens, Dallas Stars, St. Louis Blues, Washington Capitals, Winnipeg Jets and Tampa Bay Lightning were among at least nine teams with spectators at the rink.

The Flyers had three representatives in attendance along with two from the Bolts.

Former 67’s forward Alyn McCauley, an assistant GM with the Flyers, was in the house and the club’s director of pro scouting Mike Eastwood were among Philly’s three scouts here.

This is the time of the year that most teams have wrapped up their scouting meetings and have identified players they want to see before the deadline or to prepare for unrestricted free agency in the summer.

bgarrioch@postmedia.com

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