Red hot Senators win sixth straight with overtime victory over Canucks

The Senators won their sixth straight game and goaltender Leevi Meriläinen picked up his first career NHL victory as the team beat the Vancouver Canucks 5-4 in overtime. Shane Pinto had two goals while Claude Giroux and Josh Norris both scored as well. It was Jake Sanderson who scored the overtime winner for the Senators with his third point of the night.

The Senators were quick to open the scoring just 1:45 into the game when forward Claude Giroux scored his eighth goal of the season when he tipped a shot from Thomas Chabot past goaltender Kevin Lankinen. Chabot picked up the lone assist on Giroux’s go-ahead goal that put the Senators up 1-0 early.

The Senators held the Canucks to zero shots for nearly 10 minutes to open the first period. A lengthy period of no goals followed, until the end of the period.

With 3:38 remaining in the first, forward Michael Amadio dished a pass to Shane Pinto who tapped in his fifth goal of the season to put the Senators up 2-0 late in the period. Amadio received credit for the lone assist on Pinto’s goal.

The Canucks got back within one when Brock Boeser scored his ninth goal of the season with just 1:56 remaining in the period to cut the Senators’ lead to 2-1.

With 18 seconds left in the period, the Canucks tied things at 2-2 when Quinn Hughes scored his eighth goal of the season.

After the Canucks’ late goals, the Senators headed into the intermission tied 2-2. The Senators held the edge in shots (9-6) as well as face-off percentage (66.7-33.3).

The Senators regained their lead 4:24 into the second period when Shane Pinto doubled down for his sixth goal of the season and second of the game. A strong play on the puck earned him a shot that he tucked past Lankinen to put the Sens up 3-2. Drake Batherson and Jake Sanderson both picked up assists on Pinto’s goal.

Fighting back, the Canucks tied the game 3-3 at 13:36 into the second period when a point shot from Quinn Hughes deflected off of Jake DeBrusk for his fifteenth goal of the season.

It’s not often a power play opens with a shorthanded goal just 10 seconds in, but that’s what happened when forward Josh Norris scored his 13th goal of the year almost immediately off the opening face-off of the Canucks’ power play. An impressive stretch pass by Jake Sanderson started the play, and Norris made no mistake burying a pass from Claude Giroux to put the Senators up 4-3. Giroux and Sanderson both picked up assists on the goal, their second points of the night each.

The remainder of the second period saw both teams held scoreless, and the Senators headed into the second intermission up 4-3 after the first 40 minutes.

After a scoreless majority of the final frame, the Canucks tied the game at 4-4 with just over four minutes remaining in the third. It was Brock Boeser with his second goal of the game to tie the score.

For the second game in a row, the Senators won it quickly in overtime. Just 13 seconds in, defenceman Jake Sanderson scored his second goal of the season to win it for the Sens, with Tim Stützle and Shane Pinto picking up assists on the game-winner.

Their sixth straight victory, the Senators continued their red hot streak as they improved to 3-0 on their road trip. It was a three-point night for both Sanderson (one goal, two assists) and Pinto (two goals, one assist), while Claude Giroux picked up two points of his own (a goal and an assist). Goaltender Leevi Meriläinen made 25 saves to earn his first career NHL win.

The Senators’ work isn’t over yet, as the team travels to Edmonton to take on the Edmonton Oilers tomorrow night at 8:00 p.m. ET in their final game before the holiday break. The Senators will be looking to win their seventh straight as they carry momentum heading into tomorrow’s match.

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