Senators Beat Capitals in Overtime for Third Straight Win

Strong special teams play on both ends helped push the Ottawa Senators past the Washington Capitals as they won 5-4 in overtime. Josh Norris and Shane Pinto both scored shorthanded while Ridly Greig and Jake Sanderson each recorded power play goals. Thomas Chabot scored the game-winning goal for the Senators in overtime.

Just like in their first meeting, the opening period between the Senators and Capitals was scoreless. The Sens had a pair of back-to-back power play opportunities but were unable to find the back of the net. After the first 20 minutes, Ottawa held the edge in shots with 11 to the Capitals seven, as well as in faceoff percentage (53.3%) and hits with 12 to Washington’s nine.

Less than five minutes into the second period, the Senators took advantage of their third power play opportunity of the game when a pass through the crease banked off Ridly Greig’s skate and into the back of the net. Coming at 4:08 into the period, the goal marked Ridly’s eighth of the season and was assisted by David Perron and Thomas Chabot. With the assist, Perron earned his first point as an Ottawa Senator.

At 7:43, the Capitals tied things back up at 1-1 when Connor McMichael scored his 18th goal of the season just after a Washington power play expired.

With just over five minutes remaining in the period, Brady Tkachuk tucked the puck past goaltender Charlie Lindgren to restore the Senators’ lead at 2-1. The call on the ice was a goal, but the Capitals challenged for goaltender interference. After a review, the call on the ice was overturned and the game remained tied at 1-1.

A Capitals power play saw Josh Norris earn a shorthanded breakaway, on which he was tripped and given a penalty shot opportunity. Making no mistakes, he converted to give the Senators their 2-1 lead back with his 18th goal of the year. There was no taking this goal away, coming with 2:23 remaining in the second period.

The goals kept coming, when just seconds later, Shane Pinto doubled the Senators’ lead to 3-1 with the team’s second shorthanded goal on the same Washington power play. Josh Norris and Jake Sanderson both picked up assists on Pinto’s 10th goal of the season.

Thanks to the late shorthanded push by the Senators, they headed into the second intermission with a two-goal lead.

At 7:58 into the third period, the Capitals got back within one when Dylan Strome scored his 14th goal of the season on the power play.

The Senators scored on a power play of their own, their second power play goal of the game, with 9:22 remaining to regain their two-goal lead. It was Jake Sanderson with his third goal of the season to make things 4-2, with assists on the goal going to Claude Giroux and Tim Stützle. With his assist on the goal, Giroux tallied the 1,100th point of his career.

With 7:46 remaining in the third period, another Washington power play led to a shorthanded breakaway, this time for Shane Pinto. Like with Josh Norris in the second period, a trip on the play resulted in a penalty shot chance for the forward. This time however, Charlie Lindgren made the save to keep his team in the game.

Less than a minute later, the Capitals converted on the power play to get back within one. Alex Ovechkin scored his 23rd goal of the season to make things 4-3 with 6:59 to play.

The Capitals tied the game with 5:29 remaining in the period off Dylan Strome’s second goal of the game.

The remainder of regulation didn’t solve anything despite both teams trading chances, which meant extra hockey as it headed to overtime.

With 1:46 remaining in overtime, the birthday boy Thomas Chabot scored his fourth goal of the season to win it for the Senators by a score of 5-4. Shane Pinto and Josh Norris continued their strong offensive showings of the night as they both picked up assists on the goal.

Four Senators had multi-point nights. Josh Norris recorded three points in the form of a goal and two assists. Three players had two points: Thomas Chabot (one goal, one assist), Shane Pinto (one goal, one assist) and Jake Sanderson (one goal, one assist).

Norris’ shorthanded penalty shot goal marked the fifth instance in franchise history of such a goal. Daniel Alfredsson did so twice (2000 and 2007) while Mike Fisher did so once (2001), and Zack Smith recorded the most recent instance in 2016.

Tonight's win marked the Senators' third in a row — the third time this season the team has won at least three games in a row (and the second time this month). The first instance spanned from December 11-21 when the team won six straight. The second instance came January 11-14, when they won three straight.

The Senators will return to play at Canadian Tire Centre on Saturday when they take on the Minnesota Wild for the second and final time this season. The game will also mark the Senators’ annual Star Wars Night. Puck drop is set for 7:00 p.m. ET and tickets are available HERE.

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