Ottawa Senators Secure Overtime Win In Chicago As Stutzle Extends Point Streak

For the second time in three games, the Ottawa Senators had their hands full with one of the NHL’s cellar dwellers. After defeating the last place San Jose Sharks on Saturday, they pulled off a dramatic win on Wednesday night, edging the Chicago Blackhawks 4-3 in overtime.

Tim Stützle played the hero, scoring his 20th goal of the season just 46 seconds into overtime.  Stützle beat Chicago defenseman Wyatt Kaiser one on one, then drove hard to the net. Blackhawks goaltender Arvid Söderblom made the initial save, but the rebound deflected in off Stützle’s skate and into the net. After a video review, the goal stood up, ending the evening and extending Stützle’s impressive point streak to 13 games.

Despite scoring the game-winner, Stützle was highly critical of his own performance. In a postgame interview with Kyle Bukauskas from Sportsnet, Stützle described his game Wednesday as “terrible.” However, his late-game heroics ensured the Senators walked away with two crucial points. He now leads all Senator scorers by 15 points.

Senators head coach Travis Green was pleased his club stepped up in a game that was a bit of a grind.

“First of all, it’s great that we won the game,” Green told TSN 1200’s Gord Wilson. “There wasn’t a lot of room out there, both ways. We didn’t give up a lot, didn’t generate a lot, but found a way to win the game.”

Green admitted there were some anxious moments during the replay review of Stützle’s goal.

“Yeah, there always is. Our video guys had it as a good goal, so I thought they made the right call.”

Josh Norris, Jake Sanderson, and Drake Batherson all recorded two points in the win, while Linus Ullmark made 17 saves.

The Senators opened the scoring just over two minutes into the game when Brady Tkachuk tipped home a point shot from Artem Zub. Chicago answered quickly, with Ryan Donato—considered a potential trade chip before Friday’s deadline—tying the game. Less than a minute later, Teuvo Teräväinen gave the Blackhawks a 2-1 lead, extending his own point streak to six games.

Ottawa tied it before the end of the first when David Perron showed off his baseball skills batting in a puck out of mid-air. Later in the frame, Norris blasted home a one-timer to putthe Senators ahead 3-2.

Chicago had the only goal of the final frame when Craig Smith found the back of the net early in the third, setting the stage for Stützle’s dramatic finish.

With the victory, and five points out of six in their past three games, the Senators have reclaimed a playoff position. The table  is now set for some crucial upcoming matchups against teams directly involved in this Eastern wild card dogfight. The Sens host the New York Rangers on Saturday afternoon at 12:30 p.m. then the Detroit Red Wings on Monday night. They’re in Philadelphia on Tuesday, then host Boston on Thursday.

By Steve Warne (@SteveWarneMedia)

This article is from The Hockey News Ottawa. For more Sens coverage all season long, be sure to bookmark THN Ottawa

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