Stutzle has 3 points, sparks Senators past Blackhawks for 3rd straight win

OTTAWA -- Tim Stutzle had a short-handed goal and two assists, and the Ottawa Senators won their third straight game with a 6-4 victory against the Chicago Blackhawks at Canadian Tire Centre on Saturday.

Stutzle has 13 points (five goals, eight assists) during a six-game point streak.

“I think it was a great team effort,” Stutzle said. “A lot of good things, I think. Still some things we can clean up; gave them a couple too many looks. But in the end, I think we played the right way in the third. A really deserving win.”

Brady Tkachuk scored twice and extended his goal streak to three games, David Perron had two goals in the third period, and Fabian Zetterlund had a goal and an assist for the Senators (17-13-4), who are 4-1-0 in their past five. Claude Giroux had two assists, and Leevi Merilainen made 20 saves to end a personal four-game losing streak.

“They were good tonight,” Ottawa coach Travis Green said of his top line of Tkachuk, Stutzle and Zetterlund. “They held onto pucks, they played below the top of the circles, they won puck battles. You don’t have a night like that if you’re not really strong on the puck.”

Ilya Mikheyev scored twice, and Andre Burakovsky also scored for the Blackhawks (13-16-6), who have lost five in a row (0-5-0). Ryan Greene had two assists, and Arvid Soderblom made 34 saves.

“A little disappointed,” Chicago coach Jeff Blashill said. “Obviously disappointed. You’re sitting in a position in the third period, tied game, and we got outplayed in the third.”

Blackhawks forward Frank Nazar left the game and did not return after taking a Jordan Spence shot in the face at 5:11 of the first period.

“You lose ‘Frankie’ early, so, one of the things that leads to consistency is depth,” Blashill said. “So, our depth is getting tested. And so, guys in those roles have to ultimately play at a higher level.”

The Senators and Blackhawks combined for three coach’s challenges for goalie interference in the first two periods.

Ottawa nearly opened the scoring 2:57 into the game when Stutzle scored into a partially open net, but Chicago challenged for goaltender interference and video review determined Zetterlund prevented Soderblom from making a save.

Tkachuk gave the Senators a 1-0 lead at 6:36 of the first period when he deflected in Tyler Kleven's shot from a sharp angle, which rattled around in the crease before going in off Soderblom’s left pad. The Blackhawks challenged for goaltender interference for a second time, but video review confirmed the goal.

Mikheyev tied it 1-1 at 1:53 of the second period after he drove wide around Nick Jensen and beat Merilainen five-hole on a partial breakaway.

“Of course, it’s frustrating,” Mikheyev said. “But we need to learn how to play. Because the best teams play a whole 60 minutes. We’re growing up and it takes time. I’ll say it again -- it takes time. But we need more confidence that we can play hard and push back.”

Ottawa thought it had taken the lead at 7:29 when Dylan Cozens’ shot at the edge of the crease trickled across the goal line, but it was waved off for goaltender interference. The Senators challenged, but video review confirmed the initial call.

On the ensuing penalty kill due to a failed coach’s challenge, Stutzle’s short-handed goal gave Ottawa a 2-1 lead at 8:02. He intercepted a Teuvo Teravainen pass at the Senators’ blue line, skated in on a breakaway and chipped the puck over Soderblom’s blocker.

Burakovsky tied it 2-2 on the power play at 9:55 when his pass attempt redirected in off of Artem Zub’s stick.

Tkachuk then put Ottawa back ahead 3-2 at 14:07, putting a wrist shot bar-down from the middle of the slot. He has five goals during his streak.

Thomas Chabot, who played his first game since aggravating a previous upper-body injury on Nov. 22, fed Tkachuk for the goal.

“No better feeling than playing hockey, honestly,” Chabot said. “It was a long [27] days, but I’m happy to be back. I’m happy to be playing hockey. Obviously, a great game by the whole team tonight, so it was fun to be back at home in front of our fans and playing again.”

Mikheyev’s second goal tied it 3-3 at 18:32 after he took a cross-slot pass from Ryan Donato and tucked it past Merilainen’s outstretched left pad.

Perron’s power-play goal gave the Senators a 4-3 lead at 1:45 of the third period, one-timing a pass from Giroux over Soderblom’s left shoulder.

Perron scored again 3:46 later to extend it to 5-3 at 5:31, beating Soderblom over the blocker with a wrist shot.

“We’ve played good hockey, I think, overall, in the last little while,” Perron said. “And at times, you don’t win [games]. There was like a time and a tipping point, I felt, that we almost kind of started going the other way in this game even, but we grabbed it back.”

Nick Lardis cut it to 5-4 at 7:17 with his first NHL goal. He took a centering pass from Alex Vlasic and chipped a backhand shot over Merilainen’s blocker.

“It was a pretty special moment, obviously,” Lardis said. “Great play by ‘Vlasser’ to kind of just get the puck to the net. I guess that’s kind of just one of my strengths, just being at the right spots at the right time in the offensive zone.”

Ottawa outshot Chicago 18-3 in the third period.

“When we’re on top of our stuff, I’ll put our game against anybody here in this league,” Chabot said.

Zetterlund’s wrist shot from the slot beat Soderblom glove side at 16:10 for the 6-4 final.

“It was last week when we lost three in a row [at home],” Green said, “And I don’t know if we could’ve played much better, quite honestly, rather than put the puck in the net. … We just need to keep playing our game and good things will happen. At the end of the night, if we play the way we can, we’re going to win more than we lose.”

NOTES: Kleven left the game midway through the second period with a lower-body injury. Green said he will not dress against the Boston Bruins on Sunday. … With his 363rd NHL point, Stutzle passed Dany Heatley for sole possession of ninth on the franchise’s all-time points list. Stutzle also tied Heatley (31) for the fifth-most three-point games in Senators history. … Perron became the third Senator age 37 or older with a multigoal game, following Daniel Alfredsson (eight times) and Alex Kovalev (three times).