In Ottawa, Brady Tkachuk hit for a double for the Senators, and Ottawa potted three unanswered goals in the third period to rout the Arizona Coyotes, 6-2 in a Saturday afternoon tilt.
Anton Forsberg made 20 saves in the Sens win, their third straight.
Shane Pinto scored in his fourth straight game to give Ottawa a 1-0 lead, Josh Norris pushed the lead to 2-0.
“He’s really smart,” Senators coach D.J. Smith said of Pinto. “He gets himself in shooting areas and just maneuvers his way around the ice. And then, clearly, he can really shoot it. Just really patient. Just smart. He’s managing the game extremely well for a young guy.”
Arizona’s Dylan Guenther scored off the power play to cut the deficit to 2-1. The goal was his first career NHL strike.
“They were super stoked,” Guenther, an Edmonton native, said of his teammates’ reaction to his goal. “I think it’s pretty cool when they’re just as excited as you are.
“I grew up watching a lot of these guys play. [Zack] Kassian played in Edmonton and they had some playoff runs and I remember watching him, 2017 especially. So it’s pretty cool that you get to share that moment with him and get to know him on a personal level.”
Tkachuk struck for a power play goal to make it 3-1 to Ottawa.
Clayton Keller gave some life to the Coyotes in the middle frame when he made it 3-2 for Ottawa heading to the third.
The final frame was all Senators with Mark Kastelic and Tyler Motte hitting for goals and 5-2 lead.
“What I liked is that I didn’t see any change all the way through the game,” Coyotes head coach ANdre Tourigny said. “I think the guys stayed focused, they stayed together, they battled, they battled hard. So I think it’s a step in the right direction for us. … Obviously, we need to clean up a few things defensively, but if the attitude stays like this and the effort stays like this, there are brighter days ahead.”
Just past the midway point of the third, Tkachuk added his second for the 6-2 final.
“We came in here [during the second intermission] and we told ourselves to be mature about it,” Pinto said. “We’re in our building. We were up 3-2. So we just had to shut the door and we did that.
“It was all positive talk from our leaders, the big guys. They just told us to be patient and don’t get too rattled and just play our game. I thought we did that.”
Norris departed the game in the third period after falling on a faceoff.
Karel Vejmelka made 26 saves in the Coyotes loss.
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