Cozens ties it late, Senators top Kraken in shootout to end 3-game skid

OTTAWA -- Dylan Cozens tied the game with 1:46 remaining in the third period, and the Ottawa Senators defeated the Seattle Kraken 4-3 in a shootout at Canadian Tire Centre on Thursday.

Cozens’ long-range one-timer beat Philipp Grubauer glove side with Ottawa’s net empty to make it 3-3. The center said he was “a little surprised” his shot found the back of the net from the right boards.

“You put the puck on net sometimes and good things happen sometimes,” Cozens said. “I’ve just got to keep putting it towards the net and getting guys around there. But yeah, I’ll take that for sure.”

Shane Pinto and David Perron scored, Claude Giroux had two assists, and Linus Ullmark made 30 saves for the Senators (2-3-0), who had lost three straight. Tim Stutzle and Pinto scored in the shootout, and Ullmark stopped both Seattle shooters.

It was Ottawa’s first home win of the season and first win without captain Brady Tkachuk, who is out 6-8 weeks after having surgery on his right thumb. He was injured during a 4-1 loss to the Nashville Predators on Monday.

“This was a big one for us,” Pinto said. “Obviously, you don’t want to go 1-4, especially 0-2 at home, so this was a big win. And hopefully we can keep it going.”

Chandler Stephenson scored twice, Shane Wright also scored, Brandon Montour had two assists, and Grubauer made 21 saves in his season debut for the Kraken (2-0-2), who were tied with their opponent at the end of regulation for the third straight game.

“We’re playing tight, we’re in games, we’re hard to play against, and that’s the way it’s going to be,” Seattle coach Lane Lambert said. “I expect you’ll see a lot more of that.”

Ullmark reached across with his blocker to stop Wright on the doorstep on the power play to keep it at 3-2 at 10:32 of the third period. He then made a pad save on Jani Nyman on a breakaway at 12:33.

“I thought Linus was huge in the third period,” Senators coach Travis Green said. “Everyone raises their game, or you hope they can raise their game when the heat’s on, and everyone does it in a different way. For a goalie, it’s finding ways to stop the puck when maybe you [shouldn’t]. And the good goalies in the League, they make big saves when it matters.”

Wright scored on his own rebound at the edge of the crease to give the Kraken a 1-0 lead at 4:57 of the first period. It was the fifth consecutive game the Senators had allowed the first goal.

“All four lines were going [at] 5-on-5, I think,” Wright said. “We controlled a lot of the play [at] 5-on-5, had a lot of really good looks and had a lot of really good chances to put it in. Just keep building off what we did tonight, for sure.”

Pinto tied it 1-1 at 7:42. Lars Eller’s shot attempt was blocked and popped right to Pinto, who buried it from the slot. It was Pinto’s sixth goal in five games to start the season.

“They’ve been going in and the pucks just keep finding me somehow,” Pinto said. “So, just hopefully it keeps coming.”

Ottawa extended its lead to 2-1 at 9:35 when Perron beat Grubauer blocker side with a quick shot from just below the left face-off dot on the power play.

“We talked about consistency in our game, managing our game, doing a lot of little things that add up to winning,” Green said. “And doing it for 60 minutes. For the most part, we weren’t perfect, that’s for sure, but we found a way to find a win.”

Stephenson tied it 2-2 at 4:40 of the second period with a wrist shot from the top of the slot that hit the cross bar, bounced off Ullmark’s skate and in. Stephenson was promoted to the second line ahead of the game.

“The chemistry with [Eeli Tolvanen and Jaden Schwartz] is good,” Stephenson said. “Played with ‘Schwartzy’ the majority of last year and ‘Tolvy’ through parts. ‘Tolvy’ is a shooter and ‘Schwartzy’ is kind of like a dog on a bone, so he gets a lot of pucks. That was all him on that goal, and I just had to shoot it.”

Stephenson gave Seattle a 3-2 lead at 2:15 of the third period, finishing a Jordan Eberle rebound on a power play.

“We controlled a large part of the game," Lambert said. "We outchanced them, our power play was really good, it’s just, we couldn’t find one towards the end there. … And I thought we were stingy defensively, for the most part. If we played that same hockey game 10 times, we probably win eight or nine of them.”

NOTES: Kraken forward Frederick Gaudreau left the game after taking a hit from Tyler Kleven in the second period. Lambert did not have an update postgame. … Senators forward Drake Batherson had his first point of the season with the primary assist on Cozens’ goal. He missed the opening three games with an upper-body injury. … Ottawa defenseman Thomas Chabot had a game-high five blocks. … Forward Arthur Kaliyev had one shot on goal in 11:10 in his Senators debut.