Giroux has goal, assist for Ottawa; Keller extends point streak to 7 in loss
Utah Hockey Club at Senators | Recap
OTTAWA — Leevi Merilainen made 34 saves, and the Ottawa Senators won 3-1 against the Utah Hockey Club at Canadian Tire Centre on Sunday.
Merilainen, a rookie who is 5-1-1 in his past seven starts, stretched to make a pad save on a Logan Cooley bat to keep it 3-1 at 18:14 of the third period. He stopped Nick Schmaltz point blank in the slot 13 seconds later.
Claude Giroux had a goal and an assist, Tim Stutzle had two assists, and Ridly Greig and Brady Tkachuk each scored for the Senators (26-20-4), who won both games of a back-to-back after a 2-1 victory against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday.
Clayton Keller scored to extend his point streak to seven games, and Karel Vejmelka made 24 saves for Utah (21-21-7), which has lost two straight.
Giroux took a seam pass from Stutzle, went in all alone and finished a deke on the backhand past Vejmelka to give Ottawa a 2-1 lead at 7:33 of the third period. It was Giroux’s first goal in 14 games.
Tkachuk scored on a Stutzle rebound at the edge of the crease to make it 3-1 at 13:22. It was Tkachuk’s first goal in 11 games.
Greig gave the Senators a 1-0 lead at 12:16 of the second period when he scored on a cross-slot pass from Shane Pinto on a 2-on-1 short-handed rush.
Keller’s pass attempt redirected off of Giroux’s stick and Greig’s leg before getting past an unsuspecting Merilainen to tie it 1-1 at 13:52. Keller has 13 points (four goals, nine assists) during his point streak.
