Crouse lifts Coyotes past Senators with first NHL hat trick

OTTAWA --Lawson Crouse scored his first NHL hat trick for the Arizona Coyotes in a 5-3 win against the Ottawa Senators at Canadian Tire Centre on Monday.

Crouse, who is from Mount Brydges, Ontario, has scored an NHL career-high 18 goals this season.
"It's a special feeling," Crouse said. "I've said it in a few interviews now: You always want to be out there and try to make the biggest difference you can make. And to get my first hat trick tonight in front of some friends and family, it's a really good feeling. To cap it off with a win makes it that much more special."

Nick Schmaltz had a goal and an assist, Clayton Keller had two assists, and Scott Wedgewood made 40 saves for the Coyotes (19-36-4), who have won five of their past six.
"That was not a Picasso, but they do not have to be Picassos all the time," Arizona coach Andre Tourigny said. "I think the 'Sens' played really well. They play heavy, they hit, they were strong on pucks. We had no answer for two periods, but [Crouse] decided we'll have a game."
Josh Norris scored twice, and Brady Tkachuk had two assists for the Senators (21-33-5), who also lost 8-5 to the Coyotes on March 5. Filip Gustavsson made 10 saves and has lost his past seven games.
"I don't think we've had the puck that much and dominated a game for that long maybe since I've been here," Ottawa coach D.J. Smith said. "I can't think of the last time. [The Coyotes] could barely get to the red line at one point. We just didn't score. You have to score."
Norris gave Ottawa a 1-0 lead at 2:39 of the first period. He scored on a rebound near the left post after Wedgewood stopped Tkachuk with the toe of his pad while sliding across the crease.
Crouse tied it 1-1 at 7:49, taking a pass from Phil Kessel on a 2-on-1 and scoring with a wrist shot glove side from the slot. He then made it 2-1 at 9:00 with a deflection of Shayne Gostisbehere's point shot on the power play.
Norris tied it 2-2 with his own power-play goal at 14:01, beating Wedgewood from the top of the right circle after the puck popped out to him on a face-off. He has scored six goals in his past six games.
"He's scoring, he's playing, he's checking. He did everything we asked him to do tonight," Smith said.

Crouse completed the hat trick to make it 3-2 at 16:12 of the second period when he chipped the puck over Gustavsson's glove on a shorthanded breakaway.
"[Crouse] is the perfect coach's player," Tourigny said. "He works hard, he's focused, he takes care of his body, he does extra time, he pays attention to every detail. 'Yes, coach. No problem, coach. Whatever you want.' He's always ready and always gives you his best."
Crouse is the eighth player in Coyotes/Winnipeg Jets history to score at even strength, on the power play and shorthanded in the same game.
"I didn't really even notice it until after the game when someone told me," Crouse said. "It's just me trying to get to the right areas and put the puck in the back of the net. Tonight was one of those nights when the puck seemed to follow me around. I had a couple of good looks and capitalized on them. Hopefully more to come."
Connor Brown tied it 3-3 at 7:30 of the third period when he shot into an open net after Tkachuk's initial attempt trickled through Wedgewood.
"It definitely [stinks]," Tkachuk said. "Bad feeling right now. One of our most dominant games we've played all year. It [stinks] that we didn't get rewarded."
Schmaltz responded 16 seconds later to put Arizona back in front 4-3, kicking a pass from Keller to his stick and shooting past Gustavsson's outstretched glove.
"They tied it up there and we bounced back and scored right away," Wedgewood said. "We had the lead and I just tried to hold them off for as long as I could."

Barrett Hayton shot into an open net with 48 seconds remaining for the 5-3 final.
"It's the confidence of the team right now. I think we believe in ourselves more and more every day," Tourigny said. "In that kind of game, you can look at it two ways. You can look at our performance, and really, it was not very good. Let's not kid ourselves. But you can look at it as well saying, even though it was not as good as we wanted, we found a way to stay with it."
NOTES: Schmaltz (six goals, 10 assists) and Keller (four goals, eight assists) each extended his point streak to six games. … Tkachuk has scored six points (three goals, three assists) in his past five games. … Norris has scored seven points (five goals, two assists) in his past four games.