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Shane Pinto won’t likely forget his 26th birthday anytime soon.
Pinto scored his second goal of the game 2:08 into overtime on Thursday to lead the Senators to a 4-3 win over the Colorado Avalanche, who lost stars Cale Makar and Nathan MacKinnon midway through the game.
Pinto scored the winner when he intercepted a Parker Kelly pass near centre ice and wristed a shot past Scott Wedgewood’s blocker side from the top of the slot.
His first goal came after he blocked a shot and won a race for a loose puck to beat Wedgewood five-hole.
“He was great,” said Senators coach Travis Green. “He was probably our best player tonight. He was skating, physical when he needed to be. We needed that tonight.”
Drafted 32nd overall in 2019, Pinto has developed into a dependable two-way centre who can handle tough defensive assignments while providing secondary scoring.
He’s someone Green trusts in different situations. Pinto is often matched against the opposition’s top line, kills penalties, wins faceoffs and still contributes offensively.
“I’m not sure where he caps out as a player,” said Green. “I don’t think we’ve seen it yet. If he’s in a matchup role we still want him to score and try to score. When we do play with a matchup we want that line to play in the other zone and play offence as well.
“And I think Pints’ game is still growing like a lot of our players.”
Point-per-game stretch
Despite his defensive responsibilities, Pinto is third in team scoring with nine goals and 17 points. He has seven goals and three assists in his last 10 games.
He’s coming off back-to-back 20-goal seasons and a sixth-place finish in Selke Trophy voting last season.
Pinto earns the praise and respect of his teammates for the way he plays.
“He was great tonight,” said Tim Stützle. “He had a lot of energy, obviously, a great read in overtime.
“He’s a special player and he’s going to make those plays and puts it in the back of the net.”
However, Stützle did take some credit for his performance. He had been encouraging Pinto to eat more fish and he invited him over for dinner Wednesday night where fish was on the menu.
Avalanche goalie Scott Wedgewood reacts to Pinto’s first-period goal. (Marc DesRosiers/Imagn/Reuters)
The Senators jumped out to a 2-0 lead, then trailed 3-2 late in the game before tying it and winning in overtime.
Pinto talked about the team’s resiliency and their ability to better deal with adversity this season.
“Maybe just maturity,” he said.
“I think not getting too high or too low. I think all of us boys kind of have been through a fair bit in the NHL and you realize that you’ve got to kind of be even keel and stay with it.
“And I think our mindset’s just better with that this year, just more mature and staying with it. I think that’s all that is.”
The game saw both the 26-save return of goalie Linus Ullmark from injury and the debut of Ottawa’s gold-tinged “Hometown Remix” uniforms that pay homage to the city’s architecture.
Sens goalie Linus Ullmark makes a save Thursday night wearing Ottawa’s new ‘Hometown Remix’ uniform. The font is inspired by the Gothic architecture of the Parliament Buildings. (Marc DesRosiers/Imagn/Reuters)
The start to the evening was special for Pinto as it was the annual Hockey Fights Cancer game where hundreds of kids fighting cancer were invited to watch the game.
Prior to the ceremonial puck drop, a young girl the team had met last season rang a bell at centre ice to mark the end of her cancer treatment.
The significance of the moment was not lost on Pinto.
“It was a little emotional,” admitted Pinto.
“I think you just realize how lucky we have it. It’s so cool that we did that for her. It’s just emotional and you try to compartmentalize it a little bit but you realize at the same time that there’s things bigger than the game. It was cool to see.”