Senators score 4 in 1st, defeat Bruins for 5th win in row

OTTAWA -- Drake Batherson had two goals and an assist, and the Ottawa Senators won their fifth straight, 6-3 against the Boston Bruins at Canadian Tire Centre on Thursday.

“It was awesome,” Batherson said. “Mom made me some home-cooked meals yesterday, so she's probably going to take all the credit for that.”

Brady Tkachuk extended his point streak to eight games (seven goals, two assists), Ridly Greig and Shane Pinto each had a goal and an assist, and Linus Ullmark made 22 saves for the Senators (35-25-5), who are 6-0-1 in their past seven games after losing their previous five.

“Oh my god, he's such a stud,” Ottawa defenseman Tyler Kleven said of Ullmark. “I mean, he's such a big part of this team and he wins us a lot of games.”

Ullmark kept it 5-3 at 18:29 of the second period when he dove across and made a desperation glove save on a Mason Lohrei one-timer from the right face-off dot.

“I was just laughing,” Ullmark said. “Like, sometimes you wonder, ‘How did that happen?’ Like, what happened in the prior [play], how did I get here and sort of just have to smile and laugh about it because you saved it and then let it go and focus on the next one, because you don't want to make a brilliant save like that and end up having a bad goal right after, just because you're so caught up in the moment of, ‘Oh, I'm feeling like a stud now, after making that save,’ or something.”

Said Boston forward Casey Mittelstadt: “To be honest, yeah, it is [deflating]. Obviously, any time someone makes that big of a save, it’s pretty uncommon, especially with what seemed like an empty net. So, yeah, it’s deflating for sure, I think. That would’ve put us within one.”

Mittelstadt, David Pastrnak and Marat Khusnutdinov scored for the Bruins (30-29-8), who had won two straight. Joonas Korpisalo made 15 saves in relief of Jeremy Swayman, who was pulled after the first period after allowing four goals on 15 shots.

“We just weren’t good enough in most of the facets in the first period,” Boston coach Joe Sacco said. “Our execution wasn’t quite there, we weren’t sharp, our passing was off, and because of that, they got us back on our heels and then took the play to us in the first period. … I think a lot of it was self-inflicted. I think our decisions with the puck, at times, weren’t accurate.”

The Senators are five points ahead of the Columbus Blue Jackets for the first wild card into the Stanley Cup playoffs from the Eastern Conference. The Bruins are two points behind the Blue Jackets for the second wild card with two more games played.

Pinto gave Ottawa a 1-0 lead at 3:44 of the first period when he received a centering pass from Greig, turned and beat Swayman under the left pad with a quick shot.

Kleven made it 2-0 at 9:09 with a slap shot over Swayman’s right shoulder from the top of the left face-off circle. With the primary assist on the goal, Nikolas Matinpalo got his first NHL point.

“I think that our mindset, like, we're in such a tight playoff push right now and these guys are battling for a playoff spot,” Kleven said, “I think that we all knew that we all needed to play our best tonight. And I thought that, I don't know, we just played a simple game really, got pucks in deep, got some some low-to-highs from the ‘D’ and we just got some shots on net, and a couple went in, so it was good to get a couple goals right away and I think that set us up for the rest of the night.”

Mittelstadt scored on a cross-crease centering pass from Vinni Lettieri to cut it to 2-1 at 10:57. Mittelstadt has three points (one goal, two assists) in three games since being acquired in a trade with the Colorado Avalanche on Friday.

“I think he continues to improve each game,” Sacco said of Mittelstadt. “He’s getting more comfortable with how we play within our systems. And you can see that his skill can take over at times.”

Batherson one-timed a cross-slot pass from Tkachuk into an open net on a power play to push it to 3-1 at 16:21.

Greig then tipped Pinto's point shot and scored on his own rebound at the edge of the crease to make it 4-1 at 16:43.

“That first period, I don’t know what happened,” Korpisalo said. “It was pretty one-sided. But then we gathered again and fought back and had really good chances there. Kudos to us for fighting back.”

Pastrnak tipped a John Beecher point shot to cut it to 4-2 at 6:59 of the second period.

“Lots of ups and downs,” Ullmark said. “Came out hot, played a really, really solid, really good first period, dominated them completely and showed on the scoreboard as well. Then it's hard. We haven't been put in this position a lot throughout the season, so it's a new sort of feeling for us as well, going into the second and having that lead. It’s hard sometimes because it's [the] small things that matter in the end. You let go maybe five percent or anything like that in the game -- doesn't matter if it's a forecheck or dumps or puck protection, whatever it is -- and the team's going to capitalize on that one.”

Batherson scored his second of the game to extend the lead to 5-2 at 11:01. Dylan Cozens’ initial shot bounced off the glass behind the net and Batherson followed the puck to the right post and lifted it over Korpisalo’s outstretched glove.

Cozens has four points (two goals, two assists) in four games since being acquired in a trade with the Buffalo Sabres on Friday.

Khusnutdinov beat Ullmark over the glove with a wrist shot on a partial break to cut it to 5-3 at 13:55. The forward scored his first goal with Boston after being traded from the Minnesota Wild on March 6.

Claude Giroux scored into the empty net for the 6-3 final at 18:44 of the third period.

NOTES: Ullmark is 5-0-1 with a .913 save percentage in his past six starts … Tkachuk, who didn’t take a shift in the final 6:49 of the third, tweaked his hip but is expected to play Saturday against the Toronto Maple Leafs, coach Travis Green said. … With his 203rd NHL assist, Tim Stutzle surpassed Marian Hossa for 10th in franchise history.