Captain Brady Tkachuk scores the winner on a late third-period power play.
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Senators 3, Jets 2
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Make it five for the suddenly surging Ottawa Senators.
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It may not be the most exciting hockey to watch, but the Senators played efficiently, worked hard and got good goaltending from Joonas Korpisalo in a 3-2 win over the Jets in Winnipeg on Saturday.
And, now, their winning streak, with nine games left in their season, is five.
In a relatively quiet first period, Ottawa outshot Winnipeg 6-5. That was despite the Senators having three power plays.
Business picked up a bit in the second period, with Ottawa outscoring Winnipeg 2-1.
The Jets opened the scoring 1:58 into the period. Nikolaj Ehlers knocked a rebound past Korpisalo, who made his ninth start in Ottawa’s past 13 games.
The Senators’ fourth line came through again, though, with Boris Katchouk making it 1-1 3:39 into the middle period.
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Sloppy play by the Jets deep in their end and some good digging by the Senators led to a goal by Ridly Greig with 6:35 left in the second.
The teams really seemed to get it going in the third period.
The Jets tied the game with 10:12 left on a power-play goal by Mark Scheifele; the puck ricocheted into the net off the skate of Senators defenceman Artem Zub.
Korpisalo made a huge diving save with bit less than four minutes left. He made a bad pass to a teammate and was caught to the side of the net, then had to scramble back toward the crease to make the stop.
The Jets took a late penalty and Brady Tkachuk made them pay when he rifled a one-timer into the net with 1:45 left.
The Jets got a power play with just inside of a minute left as Zub was sent to the penalty box for slashing. Sean Monahan missed a wide-open net with less than 10 seconds left.
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SLIP SLIDING: It’s been a bit rocky for goalie Connor Hellebuyck and the Jets. Making his fifth straight start, the goalie had gone 0-3-1 with a 4.02 goals-against average and 875 save percentage over his previous four games. Going in, he was 32-18-4 with a 2.41 goals-against average and .920 save percentage. He made 34 saves in a 2-1 overtime win over the Senators two months ago. It was the 500th game of Hellebuyck’s career. He went into the game with a record of 270-172-41, 2.63 GAA, .917 save-percentage and 36 shutouts. His 270 victories were the most by any U.S.-born goalie through their first 500 games.
ICE CHIPS: Senators forward Parker Kelly may be a little banged up (broken nose and stitches) after taking a puck to the face Thursday against Chicago, but he was in the lineup Saturday. Said Kelly: “It’s still a little swollen. But my legs still work, I have to grind it out.” With a career-high eight goals, he said: “Especially after last year, not having the offensive year I wanted (one goal in 55 games), it’s something I worked hard on in the summer. It’s not going to happen (for me) every night, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t happy with how far I’ve come” … Asked about injured defenceman Thomas Chabot at the morning skate, Senators coach Jacques Martin said: “He didn’t skate today. It’s day to day; hopefully we’ll get him back Tuesday, if not (then), Thursday” … Ottawa centre Tim Stutzle was pounded to the ice on a big hit by Adam Lowry near Winnipeg’s blue-line near the end of the first period … Stutzle had a great chance late in a Winnipeg power play early in the second period, but Hellebuyck got his glove on the shot … Ottawa’s Shane Pinto was drilled to the ice by Winnipeg’s Dylan DeMelo in the second period … The puck rolled off Brady Tkachuk’s stick while he was in close on a breakaway near the midway point of the middle period … Yeah, that holding penalty to Jake Sanderson early in the third period was suspect. It was a surprise that Winnipeg’s Nino Niederreiter didn’t get penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct for the dive.
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