Tkachuk, Giroux score for Ottawa; Colorado has lost 5 of 7
Avalanche at Senators | Recap
OTTAWA — Tim Stutzle had a goal and an assist for the Ottawa Senators in a 5-2 victory against the Colorado Avalanche at Canadian Tire Centre on Wednesday.
“It was a pretty complete game again,” Ottawa coach Travis Green said. “Back-to-back games where we really played well, 200-foot game. Didn’t give up a lot, created more than enough.
“Not only did we win, but we controlled a lot of the game.”
Brady Tkachuk and Claude Giroux also scored, and Artem Zub had two assists for the Senators (25-21-7), who have won two in a row after losing four of five (1-2-2). James Reimer made 16 saves in his fifth start in six games.
“I thought it was a special effort,” Reimer said. “The game plan is always to play a full 60 (minutes), that’s the biggest cliche in the world, but it is the truth and this league is so good that it’s usually pretty hard to do because there’s going to be some sort of a pushback or whatnot. And I thought we dominated all night.”
COL@OTT: Giroux buries a nice shot to make it 3-1 in the 3rd
Valeri Nichushkin and Parker Kelly scored for the Avalanche (35-7-9), who have lost five of their past seven games (2-3-2). Mackenzie Blackwood made 18 saves.
“You’re going to face adversity, there’s no question, right?” Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. “… We have to find a way to bounce back again and then string a couple of games together. But it never hurts to go through a little bit of a stretch where you have to push and play your best, and you got to respond.”
After a scoreless first period in which Ottawa outshot Colorado 9-4, the Senators struck first in the second.
Nick Cousins gave Ottawa a 1-0 lead at 3:21 after he collected a long stretch pass from Zub at the blue line, skated in and beat Blackwood with a backhand.
“I think everybody was on board tonight,” Cousins said. “Every line contributed, and obviously got some big saves from [Reimer], and we’re going to need those down the stretch here.”
Kelly tied it 1-1 at 14:05 when a dump-in by Keaton Middleton was tipped by Brock Nelson and landed on the stick of Kelly, who snapped a shot past the blocker of Reimer. It was his third goal in five games.
“Couldn’t really keep sustained O-zone time to even get shots,” Kelly said. “So not good enough for us tonight, and we’re going to have to grind one out tomorrow in Montreal.”
Just 17 seconds later, Ridly Greig restored Ottawa’s lead, 2-1, at 14:22. He won a race to the puck against Middleton after it caromed off the end boards behind Blackwood and lifted a shot over the goalie’s right shoulder.
COL@OTT: Greig goes top shelf to make it 2-1 in the 2nd
Giroux extended it to 3-1 at 2:06 of the third period, finishing into the top left corner on a 2-on-1.
“We did a good job as a whole,” Giroux said. “We didn’t have one passenger tonight.”
Nichushkin cut it to 3-2 at 3:30, however, following a Giroux giveaway. His clearing attempt found the tape of Jack Drury, who passed to Nichushkin in the slot for a backhand over Reimer’s glove to end a 10-game scoring drought.
Tkachuk scored into an empty net to make it 4-2 at 17:44, and Stutzle added another empty-net goal at 18:53 for the 5-2 final.
“I think our team has a lot of belief,” Green said. “We know that we can play with anyone in the League when we’re on top of our game. But I’m not afraid to say, you know our record probably should be better than what it is because of the way we’ve played, but we’ve just got to keep doing it and give our group credit — they haven’t gone away.”
NOTES: Giroux recorded his 1,153rd career point (375 goals, 778 assists), tying longtime Quebec Nordiques forward Michel Goulet for 61st on the NHL’s all-time list. … Stutzle (242 assists) pulled within three assists of tying Marco Sturm (245) for the fourth most by a Germany-born player in NHL history. … Avalanche forward Nathan MacKinnon (698 assists) needs two assists to join Joe Sakic (1,016) as the second player in Avalanche/Quebecs history to record 700. … The Senators won against an opponent with a points percentage of .750 or higher after the halfway mark of a season for just the third time in franchise history. The others: against the Detroit Red Wings (Jan. 12, 2008; .778 points percentage) and Carolina Hurricanes (Feb. 8, 2022; .756).
Hockey News