Brady Tkachuk was already having a good game, but the Ottawa Senators forward took it to the next level when he hit the target in overtime in a 5-4 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday night at Canadian Tire Centre.
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The captain ended the game after just 25 seconds in extra time. He also had three assists before.
It must be said that the local favorites, who were trying to find the way to victory after two consecutive defeats, were hot. Casey DeSmith did what he could in front of the Pens goal, but the 40 shots he received were too many.
DeSmith has been on his own more than once. The Senators had nine power plays and scored all four of their regular-time goals on the rush. Alex DeBrincat, Tim Stutzle, Drake Batherson and Shane Pinto hit the mark.
Like Tkachuk before him, Stutzle had his second consecutive 20-goal season before the age of 22. The German got into the scoring in fine fashion by overtaking Sidney Crosby before beating DeSmith with a good throw.
The Penguins are doing pretty well as they only directed 19 pucks to Cam Talbot, who looked weak at times. Crosby and Evgeni Malkin notably finished with three points apiece.
When he returned to the game after 38 games away, “Sens” forward Josh Norris did not collect a point despite 19 min 14 s on the ice.
No victory for Dufour
In New York, Quebec forward William Dufour made his debut with the Islanders, but they fell to the mighty Boston Bruins by a score of 4 to 1.
Zach Parisé was the only scorer for the local team. Dufour, meanwhile, was only used for 6:48 by head coach Lane Lambert, despite his presence in the first line at the start of the game. The 20-year-old finished the game with a -2 differential.
The visitors took matters into their own hands in the second period. Charlie McAvoy let off a cannonball that got the better of goalkeeper Semyon Varlamov. It was the American’s first goal since November 23.
Derek Forbort put the Bruins up front midway through the period. Varlamov only partially stopped Pavel Zacha’s shot and the defenseman only had to push the loose puck into the net.
Brad Marchand scored on the power play early in the third period on a magnificent tic-tac-toe game started by David Pastrnak and McAvoy, then Trent Frederic added a 10th goal this season.