In Ottawa, the Senators jumped out to a 2-0 first period lead and then held off the Arizona Coyotes for a 3-2 win on Thursday night.
Vladislav Namestnikov had a goal for the Senators – file photo by Lewis Bleiman
Nick Paul, Vladislav Namestnikov and Brady Tkachuk scored for the Senators.
“I think we just had everyone going,” Paul said. “First period was really good, second we knew they were going to push. [Marcus Hogberg] made some unbelievable saves, kept us in it. And we just kept playing the game we’ve been trying to play; we’re playing hard, we’ve been winning our battles, we’re blocking shots, and we’ve just got to keep doing it.”
Hogberg made 32 saves in the win.
“These are [Stanley Cup] Playoff games for us. They’re free playoff games,” Ottawa coach D.J. Smith said. “You’ve got teams that are scratching and clawing to be in the playoffs, and they’re going to play hard every night. For our young team, we’re going to have to be ready.”
Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Jordan Oesterle scored for the Coyotes.
“[We were] obviously not ready to go. My fault,” Coyotes coach Rick Tocchet said. “I thought the game plan was there. Ottawa likes throwing pucks at the net and we just didn’t box out.”
Arizona is 2-6-3 in their last 11.
“We can’t look too far ahead,” Ekman-Larsson said after the loss. “We’ve got to look at the next one here on Saturday. It starts on Saturday. We’ve got to put some wins together at home and play better and go from there.”
[WATCH: All Coyotes vs. Senators highlights]
Antti Raanta made 28 saves in the loss.
“There should be no excuses out there, right?” Coyotes forward Lawson Crouse said. “We’re coming down the final stretch where every point’s a big point. We just didn’t have [urgency] from the drop of the puck. That’s on us.”
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