Rookie forward Mark Stone's heroics Tuesday helped the Ottawa Senators continue their pursuit of a berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Stone scored twice to rally the Senators from a 3-0 first-period deficit to a 4-3 overtime win against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The Senators (41-26-13) are tied with the Boston Bruins for the second wild card into the playoffs from the Eastern Conference, though the Bruins hold the regulation/overtime wins (ROW) tiebreaker. Ottawa also trails Pittsburgh for the first wild card by one point.
Stone has been a big reason behind the Senators' surge with five goals in his past five games. He is tied for second in rookie scoring with 61 points.
"I'm just thankful to be able to contribute at those times of the game," Stone told the Associated Press. "Everybody that's contributing on my goals are the guys that are making the plays. I'm just the one that's finishing it off."
Stone's first goal came 34 seconds into the third period when, after a Penguins turnover, he flicked a wrist shot past goalie Marc-Andre Fleury to pull the Senators within 3-2. After rookie forward Mike Hoffman forced overtime at 18:12, Stone took a feed from defenseman Erik Karlsson, moved to his right and beat Fleury over his left shoulder for the game-winner at 2:43 of overtime.
Ottawa is 21-4-4 since Feb. 10, when it was 14 points out of a playoff position.
"It's a credit to the guys in this locker room," Stone said. "Nobody gives up. Every night, we're finding ways to just keep battling."
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