Ducks stay hot, defeat Senators in shootout

OTTAWA -- The Anaheim Ducks got their fifth win in seven games, defeating the Ottawa Senators 3-2 in the shootout at Canadian Tire Centre on Tuesday.

"We've seen some nights where we played very well, and in a couple of losses we were quite gross," Ducks coach Dallas Eakins said of Anaheim's recent play. "Tonight, we were very lucky. I'm not sure we got what we deserved tonight. That was not a very good game by us, but (goalie) John Gibson held us in, and we got some timely scoring."
Nick Ritchie and Ondrej Kase scored, and Gibson made 30 saves for the Ducks (22-26-5). Kase and Rickard Rakell scored for Anaheim in the shootout.
WATCH: [All Ducks vs. Senators highlights]
"[Gibson], on a nightly basis, is a top-tier goalie," Eakins said. "And tonight I think he showed that. … If he's not on his game tonight, we don't have any points."
Drake Batherson and Artem Anisimov scored, and Mike Reilly had two assists for the Senators (18-24-11), who are 1-0-2 in their past three games. Marcus Hogberg made 26 saves.
"You want to win those games," Senators coach D.J. Smith said, "and you put pressure on the guys to do that, but in saying that, we'll get up tomorrow and feel good that we did a lot of good things here tonight. We continue to get better. We're in games with everybody. As we get older and more mature, we'll win more of these."
Ritchie tipped a Hampus Lindholm point shot to give the Ducks a 1-0 lead at 9:19 of the first period.

"That was a good one," Ritchie said. "Good shot by Hampus and [I] got a piece of it, and tough one for the goalie to get. It was a good start for us, at the time."
Batherson scored on the power play with a wrist shot into the top left corner to tie it 1-1 at 4:39 of the second. He has five points (one goal, four assists) in his past five games.
"I'm definitely feeling a lot more comfortable than at the start of the year," Batherson said. "If you ask any guy, they're the same way. The more time they're here, the more they get comfortable."
Kase got to the rebound of Max Jones' shot that caromed off the end boards and tucked in a backhand to give the Ducks a 2-1 lead at 13:35.
Anisimov redirected a centering pass from Colin White on the power play to tie it 2-2 at 3:16 of the third.

Ottawa has lost all five of its games that have gone to the shootout this season.
"It just shows we're in these games, at least," Reilly said. "This is something we can build on for the future, for sure. Obviously, there could be some extra points we could pick up, but we're putting ourselves in those situations to get those two points."

They said it

"We for sure didn't have our best game, but we for sure are going to take these two points and just move on. ... We've lost games when we didn't play well, so it's nice to actually get away with two points while not playing so good." -- Ducks forward Rickard Rakell
"I just think it's just confidence over time. He was down, essentially dominating in the American Hockey League, if you look points-wise. And he worked at it. He came back, he looks a little quicker, his confidence is there. You see, he can make plays at our level, and he continues to get better." -- Senators coach D.J. Smith on forward Drake Batherson

Need to know

Eight of the past 11 games Hogberg has started have gone past regulation (2-2-7). … Senators forward Vladislav Namestnikov blocked a shot in the second period and did not return. Smith said X-rays were negative. There was no further update. … Kase had a game-high six shots.

What's next

Ducks: At the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday. (7 p.m. ET; TSN2, RDS, PRIME, NHL.TV)
Senators: Host the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday (7:30 p.m. ET; TSN5, RDS2, ALT, NHL.TV)