Zub, Spence score 15 seconds apart for Ottawa; Vancouver is 0-6-2 in past 8 games
VAN at OTT | Recap
OTTAWA — The Ottawa Senators ended a four-game losing streak with a 2-1 win against the Vancouver Canucks at Canadian Tire Centre on Tuesday.
Artem Zub and Jordan Spence scored for the Senators (21-19-5), who were playing the first game of a back-to-back.
“That was a solid game by our group tonight,” Ottawa coach Travis Green said. “Right from the drop of the puck. There’s not a lot to complain about that game. Tough win at the end, but I loved our game.
“There’s a lot of talk when things aren’t going well. I’ve said it a lot in this room the past few days, it gets heavy when you haven’t won for a while. And like anything in life, when you’re confident, you’re going to play a lot better.”
VAN@OTT: Zub, Spence score within 15 seconds to starting off the 1st period on top
Leevi Merilainen, who was making his eighth straight start, made 19 saves.
“It’s a confidence thing for sure,” Merilainen said. “I try to keep my head level if I lose, if I win. But of course, it means a lot when — I don’t think I’ve ever lost four in a row, too many times at least, so it’s good to get the win.”
Elias Pettersson scored, and Kevin Lankinen made 38 saves for the Canucks (16-25-5), who were coming off a 6-3 loss at the Montreal Canadiens on Monday and are 0-6-2 in their past eight games.
“We knew they were going to come out flying, and we were on a back-to-back, it took us a little bit,” Vancouver coach Adam Foote said. “The first one, we should have had the first goal. The second one was a little but unlucky, but the good thing was the resilience. [Lankinen] made a couple big saves to get us — when we finally got into the game, we were able to generate way more offense.”
Zub gave the Senators a 1–0 lead at 15:36 of the first period, scoring short side under Lankinen’s glove with a wrist shot from the right face-off dot.
VAN@OTT: Zub opens scoring with a wrist shot short side
Spence scored on a similar play just 15 seconds later to push the lead to 2-0. Following a face-off win by Tim Stutzle in the left circle, Spence took a pass from Drake Batherson and beat Lankinen blocker side off the far post from the top of the right circle.
“I think we were just hungry all around the zone,” Spence said. “Keeping pucks in the offensive zone, winning battles. I think that’s the biggest part of our game is when we win battles and play with our identity, we’re a really good hockey team.”
Ottawa outshot Vancouver 14-6 in the first period and 18-5 in the second period.
“When those two quick ones came in, we had to fight that adversity,” Foote said. “It took us a little bit to fight it, but we also played against a team that was very desperate, and they were coming, playing hard.”
Pettersson got the Canucks to within 2-1 at 1:17 of the third period. He scored on a one-timer from the slot after Dylan Cozens turned the puck over to Linus Karlsson in the left circle.
“It [stinks]. I hate losing,” Pettersson said. “The message is to try to do whatever to get the next win.”
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