Drake Batherson had two goals and two assists, and the Ottawa Senators rode a four-goal second period Saturday to upend the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins 6-3 and snap a six-game losing streak.
Both teams have been hit hard by absences due to COVID-19 protocol and injuries, but Ottawa considerably more so.
Michael Del Zotto added a goal and an assist, Zach Sanford, Parker Kelly and Tim Stutzle also scored, and Thomas Chabot added two assists for the Senators, who picked up just their fourth win.
Ottawa goaltender Filip Gustavsson made 28 saves.
Evan Rodrigues scored twice, and Kasperi Kapanen had a goal and an assist for the Penguins.
Pittsburgh goaltender Casey DeSmith made 18 saves.
Ottawa center Shane Pinto left in the second when, as he took a faceoff, appeared to reinjure his left shoulder, something that kept him out of the previous nine games.
In the second, Sanford gave the Senators a 1-0 lead at 5:21 when he grabbed a loose puck out of traffic and snapped a shot off DeSmith's pads.
After Pinto left in seemingly a lot of pain, Chris Tierney stepped in to take the faceoff to DeSmith's left and won it to Batherson along the boards. Batherson passed to Del Zotto, who scored a power-play goal on a screened shot from the point at 10:40 of the second to make it 2-0.
Just 27 seconds later, Kelly upped it to 3-0. After a blocked shot, Kelly got the puck just above the crease and banged it past a lunging DeSmith.
Ottawa got a second power-play goal against what was the top-ranked penalty-killing team in the league entering the game. At 17:49 of the second, Stutzle scored short side from the left dot to make it 4-0.
Kapanen got the Penguins on the board at 11:49 of the third when he scored from above the right hash marks.
Rodrigues added some intrigue at 12:55 when he closed it to 5-2 on a one-timer from the top of the left circle and then to 5-3 with DeSmith pulled on a long blast at 15:57.
Batherson added an empty-netter with 48.6 seconds left.
--Field Level Media
Pittsburgh | Ottawa | |
Evan Rodrigues 3 | Points | Drake Batherson 4 |
Evan Rodrigues 2 | Goals | Drake Batherson 2 |
Evan Rodrigues 1 | Assists | Drake Batherson 2 |
N/A | Power Play Goals | Michael Del Zotto 1 |
N/A | Short Handed Goals | N/A |
Casey DeSmith .783 | Save Percentage | Filip Gustavsson .903 |
Casey DeSmith 18 | Saves | Filip Gustavsson 28 |
Team | Shots | Goals | Power Play | Penalty Kill | Penalty Mins | Face Offs Won |
Pittsburgh | 31 | 3 | 0-4 | 1-3 | 8 | 25 |
Ottawa | 24 | 6 | 2-3 | 4-4 | 10 | 27 |