The Ottawa Senators (15-13-2) defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins (13-15-4) by a score of 3-2 with the overtime goal coming from Brady Tkachuk.
This is the first time the Senators have won three games in a row this season and they now sit in a playoff spot. This marks the first time they have held a playoff position in December since 2016. The Penguins, after overwhelming the Montreal Canadiens in their last game, winning 9-2, were unable to get more than the lone goal past Linus Ullmark.
Game Recap
The Senators, who were in the second half of a back-to-back, were planning on going with Anton Forsberg in the crease, but after an apparent injury prior to the game, it was Ullmark who led them out. This is just the third time that Ullmark has played on back-to-back days in his career.
The first period started slow, with both teams failing to register a shot on goal through the first four minutes of the game, but before the halfway mark of the period, Senators forward Claude Giroux carried the puck into the offensive zone. With a great display of patience, he drew Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry out of the crease and carried the puck around the net, finding Thomas Chabot at the hashmarks who rifled the puck past Jarry for a 1-0 lead.
There would be no more goal-scoring until the third period, but in between goals, there was a high level of physicality. Sidney Crosby laid a big hit on Shane Pinto, Tyler Kleven ran over Noel Acciari, and those were just the highlight hits. It looked like the game would become chippy, but things settled down shortly after.
Early in the third period, Blake Lizotte tied things up for the Penguins after helping force a turnover in behind the Senators’ net, and after a bit of chaos in front of Ullmark, Lizotte was able to bury his seventh goal of the season to bring the game to 1-1.
Just a few minutes later, Chabot had carried the puck through the offensive zone, and cycled around the Penguins defenders, and with a cross-crease pass, the puck was directed off of Drake Batherson’s skate and went past Jarry.
With just over seven minutes to go in the game, Kris Letang picked up the puck in his own zone, and carried the puck through the neutral zone once the Penguins forwards were set up in front of Ullmark, he threw a seemingly harmless shot on net but it went through traffic and beat Ullmark.
Jarry, who made 28 out of 31 saves, has been finding his footing since his stint in the American Hockey League, and recorded a .903 save percentage tonight. Ullmark, who has been nearly unbeatable over his last six games, made 26 of 28 saves, equalling a .929 SV%.
Both the Senators and Penguins are off for a few days and will play their next games on Tue. Dec. 17. The Penguins will host the LA Kings, and the Senators will take off to Seattle as they begin a nine-game road trip as the World Junior Championship will be taking place in their home arena.
