Nick Cousins made sure the Senators’ homecoming ended the right way.
After a five-game road swing, Ottawa returned to Canadian Tire Centre on Saturday night and came away with a 4-2 win over the Utah Mammoth, with Cousins scoring the decisive goal with 2:18 left in regulation. Samuel Ersson backed it up with 30 saves as the Senators outlasted Utah despite being outshot 32-21.
Ottawa also got goals from Fabian Zetterlund, Michael Amadio and Shane Pinto. Amadio and Pinto each finished with a goal and an assist.
The Senators struck first on the power play when Stephen Halliday set up Zetterlund at the right point and he blasted a wrist shot past the goalie. It was only Zetterlund’s second goal in 18 games this season, and Philip Tomasino earned an assist to give him four points in four games since his recall from the Belleville Senators.
Utah answered quickly. Tim Stützle tried to carry the puck over the blue line and cut back, but he lost his footing and went down.
The Mammoth turned it the other way in a hurry, and captain Clayton Keller was sent in alone on Ersson. The Ottawa goalie stopped the first chance, but Keller buried the rebound to make it 1-1.
The second period came and went without a goal, leaving the game tied heading into the third.
Ottawa grabbed the lead again just over six minutes into the final frame, and Amadio was the finisher for the second straight game. The play started when Tyler Kleven pushed the puck past Utah defenceman MacKenzie Weegar and Nick Schmaltz to spring a three-on-one rush with Claude Giroux and Amadio. Kleven fed Giroux on the right side, and when the puck slipped under Giroux’s stick and through the traffic, Amadio was right where he needed to be on the left side to snap in the go-ahead goal.
But, just like in the first period, the Senators couldn’t hold the lead for long.
After an offensive-zone faceoff win, Keller took the puck at the right point and fired toward the net. Barrett Hayton got a stick on it and redirected it past Ersson to tie the game at 2.
Cousins delivered the final blow late in the third. With a little more than two minutes left, Pinto won an offensive-zone draw back to Chabot, who spotted Cousins at the far post. The veteran forward redirected the slap pass into an open net to put Ottawa ahead for good.
Pinto added an empty-net goal as Utah pressed for the equalizer, and the Senators finished the night at 11-6-1.
Ottawa is back in action Tuesday night at home against the Washington Capitals in what’s scheduled to be Alex Ovechkin’s second-last appearance in Ottawa.
In Other News...
Nick Cousins Is Giving Ottawas Top Line A Real Test
Travis Green has been looking for ways to give Tim Sttzle and Fabian Zetterlund more support on Ottawas top line, and Nick Cousins has been the latest veteran asked to fill that job. The fit has been straightforward enough: Cousins brings a gritty, physical edge, does the dirty work along the boards and gives the line a different look than a pure skill winger would.
It has also produced a timely payoff, with Cousins making himself noticeable in a recent game against Utah. The question for the Senators is whether that kind of hard-nosed, low-usage role can keep holding up over time, because while Cousins can help stabilize the line in the short term, his limited offense makes it hard to know if this is a combination Ottawa can lean on for long. [Read more 🡒]
Panthers Fans Just Got Pulled Into A New Brady Tkachuk Debate
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Keith Tkachuk added to that conversation after receiving his Hall of Fame ring, using the moment to address the lingering noise around his sons old trade to Florida and the way it still resonates in Ottawa. The timing is notable because the Blackhawks are also dealing with their own internal pressure, including speculation around Bowen Byrams absence and a players-only meeting held after a significant loss, which only adds more intrigue to a market that already feels wide open. [Read more 🡒]
Senators Goalie Picture Just Changed At A Crucial Time
The Senators crease is getting a familiar face back at a time when every point feels important. Linus Ullmark has been activated off injured reserve after missing eight games with a lower-body injury, giving Ottawa a chance to reset a goalie situation that has been in flux since he went down.
To make room, Jonas Johansson was assigned to the AHL, leaving Samuel Ersson as the backup who had been handling the steadier share of the workload in Ullmarks absence. Ottawa now has to sort out how quickly it wants to lean back on its No. 1 option, and how the rest of the rotation settles in from here. [Read more 🡒]