Senators battle back, but allow Desert Dogs to end winless skid

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COYOTES 5, SENATORS 3

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The result was too familiar for the Ottawa Senators Friday night.

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After battling back from a 3-0 deficit, the Senators dropped their third straight, letting another two points slip away as the Arizona Coyotes halted a 14-game winless skid with a 5-3 victory in front of 17,734 at the Canadian Tire Centre.

To make matters worse for the Senators, captain Brady Tkachuk left the bench with less than four minutes remaining and didn’t finish the game. He collided with Arizona’s Liam O’Brien with about seven minutes to go and was slow going to the bench.

It didn’t help that goaltender Joonas Korpisalo, tabbed to start this one, wasn’t able to suit up because of illness. Anton Forsberg learned 25 minutes before warmup he was playing as only Shane Pinto, Drake Batherson and Vladimir Tarasenko were able to score for the Senators.

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It was another night of frustration for the Senators and if Tkachuk is out for any length of time, that won’t help matters. It appears doubtful he’ll face the Philadelphia Flyers Saturday night, but we’ll have to see.

The Coyotes were trying to avoid a franchise-record 15th straight loss, so a game against the Senators turned out to be just what the doctor ordered. In fact, Arizona hadn’t won since a 5-2 decision over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Jan. 22 at home.

Dylan Guenther fired a blast by Forsberg on the power play at 4:18 of the third period to restore the lead for the Coyotes.

You can’t fault Forsberg for being shaky to start the game because he had no idea he’d be called into action. He was on the ice late Friday and wasn’t expected to play until Saturday in Philly, but he was the only option after Korpisalo was a late scratch.

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“We’ve got to be ready at the start,” said interim coach Jacques Martin. “We had some guys that weren’t ready to play.”

The club didn’t have a backup on the bench, but TSN’s Mike Johnson told viewers that Korpisalo was in the building in case of an emergency.

Steve Staios, the club’s president of hockey operations and general manager, was forced to make a late call to the club’s American Hockey League affiliate in Belleville to bring up Mads Sogaard. He was scheduled to make the AHL start Friday and was en route to Ottawa when the puck dropped.

“Things can happen,” said Forsberg. “You just have go out there and play. It’s not the same, you’re not preparing the same way. You might not be there mentally until you get the call you’re going in.”

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OFF THE GLASS

Pinto capped the comeback to tie it up 3-3 heading to the third with his sixth of the season by firing a blast by Arizona goalie Karel Vejmelka with 4:08 left in the second … Batherson scored in his fourth straight game by corralling a rebound in front and beating Vejmelka on the stick side. That came at 5:49 of the second and cut the Coyotes’ lead to 3-2 … The goal caused Arizona coach Andre Tourigny to have an animated talk with his players during the next TV timeout. The former 67’s bench boss wanted his defencemen to be more physical … Ottawa’s Jakob Chychrun made a nice play with seven minutes left in the second to break up a 2-on-1 just before Batherson potted his goal … Tim Stutzle said the club had to have a better push in the third. “It wasn’t good enough, especially when you’re down by a goal,” said Stutzle. “We’ve got to create a little bit more.”

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THIS N’ THAT

Centre Josh Norris, who suffered an injury to his surgically repaired left shoulder Tuesday in Nashville, was placed on long-term injury reserve (LTIR) Friday. The Senators are waiting on the results of more tests before determining how long he’ll be out. Given the fact, he’s been through so much in the past, it’s highly doubtful we’ll see him again this season … Vladimir Tarasenko scored his first in six games to get Ottawa on the board to cut the Arizona lead to 3-1 after 20 minutes. The Senators were outshot 19-12 in the first and the Coyotes extended their lead to three goals when Nick Schmaltz fired it home on a five-on-three at 18:09. That came with Ridly Greig and Zack MacEwen in the box. The call on Greig was cheap, but MacEwen got a double-minor for high sticking … J.J. Moser fired a shot from the point that gave the Coyotes a 2-0 lead at 12:39 of the first. The previous time Moser scored was against Ottawa on Dec. 18 and that was his first in 28 games.

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THE FINAL BUZZER

The Coyotes opened the scoring at 7:31 of the first. Forsberg’s skate got tied up with Jacob Bernard-Docker and Michael Carcone deposited it home after picking up a rebound …. After not registering a shot in the third period Tuesday in Nashville for the first time in franchise history, the Senators registered one early … How tough has this year been defensively? Heading into the visit by the Coyotes, this has been one of the worst Ottawa teams for goals-against in franchise history. The 203 goals the club had given up through 57 games had this group of Senators ranked fifth all-time in the most goals against this point of the season. The 1992-93 edition had given up 265 at this point while 1993-94 (258), 1995-96 (219), 2018-19 (208) ranked ahead of this club at the 57-game mark … The Senators observed a moment of silence for the late Brian Mulroney, the 18th prime minister of Canada who passed away Thursday, before the puck was dropped. It was preceded by a wonderful video tribute. Nice touch.

bgarrioch@postmedia.com

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