Senators score six against Coyotes, win third straight

OTTAWA -- Shane Pinto extended his goal streak to four games for the Ottawa Senators, who won their third straight with a 6-2 victory against the Arizona Coyotes at Canadian Tire Centre on Saturday.

"He's really smart," Senators coach D.J. Smith said of Pinto, who also had an assist. "He gets himself in shooting areas and just maneuvers his way around the ice. And then, clearly, he can really shoot it. Just really patient. Just smart. He's managing the game extremely well for a young guy (21 years old)."
Brady Tkachuk scored twice, and Anton Forsberg made 20 saves for Ottawa (3-2-0), which is 3-0-0 at home.
"[Pinto] just does a lot of the little things right," Tkachuk said. "I'd say a lot of it's coming off the forecheck for that line. They create a lot of momentum for us. He's getting rewarded right now, but it's all [because] of the hard work he's put in."
Dylan Guenther scored his first NHL goal, and Karel Vejmelka made 26 saves for Arizona (1-4-0).
"They were super stoked," Guenther, an Edmonton native, said of his teammates' reaction to his goal. "I think it's pretty cool when they're just as excited as you are.
"I grew up watching a lot of these guys play. [Zack] Kassian played in Edmonton, and they had some playoff runs, and I remember watching him, 2017 especially. So it's pretty cool that you get to share that moment with him and get to know him on a personal level."
Pinto gave the Senators a 1-0 lead 4:40 into the first period with a snap shot from the slot into the top left corner.
Josh Norris tipped a point shot from Sanderson to make it 2-0 at 6:17.

Guenther cut it to 2-1 at 1:40 of the second period when he chipped the puck over Forsberg's glove on the power play.
"That was a goal-scorer's goal, the way he found a hole," Coyotes coach Andre Tourigny said. "And he found a breakaway as well in the third, so he could've had two. He had another great chance coming off the flank. He had three grade A chances on the power play, too. So good for [Guenther]. He played a good game."
Tkachuk made it 3-1 at 3:25, redirecting a centering pass from Drake Batherson on the power play.
Clayton Keller responded 22 seconds later to cut it to 3-2 when his pass attempt deflected in off Ottawa defenseman Travis Hamonic.
"What I liked is that I didn't see any change all the way through the game," Tourigny said. "I think the guys stayed focused, they stayed together, they battled. They battled hard. So I think it's a step in the right direction for us. … Obviously, we need to clean up a few things defensively, but if the attitude stays like this and the effort stays like this, there are brighter days ahead."

Mark Kastelic
pushed it to 4-2 at 6:15 of the third period when his backhand squeaked past Vejmelka short side.
Tyler Motte tapped in a loose puck in the crease to make it 5-2 at 7:02, and Tkachuk finished a deke five-hole on a breakaway at 12:08 for the 6-2 final.
"We came in here (during the second intermission) and we told ourselves to be mature about it," Pinto said. "We're in our building, we were up 3-2, so we just had to shut the door, and we did that.
"It was all positive talk from our leaders, the big guys. They just told us to be patient and don't get too rattled and just play our game. I thought we did that."
NOTES: Norris left the game midway through the third period after falling to the ice during a face-off battle. Smith said postgame that there was no update. "That's just scary, honestly," Pinto said. "Hopefully he's OK. It's just not what you want to see, especially that type of player. He plays so many minutes for us." … Pinto is the third player 21 or younger in Senators history to score in four straight games, joining Alexei Yashin (1993-94) and Mike Fisher (2001-02). … Tkachuk's second NHL goal was his 200th NHL point (94 goals, 106 assists in 282 games). … Tkachuk and Batherson each has seven points (three goals, four assists) during the three-game winning streak.