Senators 4, Jets 2
The Ottawa Senators put the Winnipeg Jets in their place on Saturday night.
The Senators served notice that they mean business by picking up their second straight win with a 4-2 decision over the Jets in front of 16,700 at the Canadian Tire Centre.
Defenceman Thomas Chabot, who finished the game with a full visor after taking a puck in the face late in the second period, led Ottawa’s attack with a two-goal effort, while Claude Giroux and Drake Batherson also chipped in with goals.
Giroux put the dagger in the Jets by beating Connor Hellebuyck with a shot with 3:35 left in the third period, restoring a two-goal lead. Chabot had a bunch of stitches in his chin, but no lost teeth and, most importantly, his jaw was intact.
“Once I saw the jaw wasn’t broken, you’re good to go,” Chabot said. “My head was fine, and everything was good. It was just about getting some stitches and getting back out there.”
Backup goalie Leevi Merilainen picked up his second straight win, and this one will be good for his confidence, but he also had help because the Senators played solidly in front of him.
The Jets have plunged to last place in the National Hockey League’s overall standings. They were the league’s best team midway through last regular season, but they’ve made a quick trip to the worst, going 1-6-3 in the past 10 contests and winless in nine straight.
The Jets refused to go quietly into the night against the Senators, though. Kyle Connor closed the gap to 3-2 with a goal at 10:10 of the third period, firing home a rebound in front after Dylan DeMelo’s point shot hit the post.
“I feel like we played pretty solid and pretty consistent,” said Giroux. “They had a push, but we did a good job of getting it done.”
Thomas Chabot of the Senators celebrates his second goal of the game with teammates Shane Pinto, left, and Nick Jensen (3) in the second period on Saturday night.
Cheap shot on Tkachuk
Senators captain Brady Tkachuk was livid late in the second period.
He can’t fight because he’s still recovering from a right thumb injury that required surgery, but he still got in a wrestling match with Logan Stanley near the Ottawa bench.
Tkachuk made it clear he couldn’t fight, but Stanley gave him a sucker punch to the head. Tkachuk wasn’t paying attention because one of the linemen had stepped in, trying to break the two up.
Somehow, Tkachuk was assessed a 10-minute misconduct, while Stanley only received two minor penalties. It was a ridiculous call. The NHL’s department of player safety could take action against Stanley for his disgraceful decision.
Coach Travis Green wasn’t pleased.
“I will probably choose my words wisely,” Green said. ‘If the refs had to do it again and call it again, they’d probably make a different call. You never like to see a guy get suckered in the face. It’s unfortunate, we’re lucky he came back. He’s an all-star player. I’m sure their team wouldn’t be happy if Connor got suckered in the face and there was just a two-minute minor for roughing.”
Tkachuk was unavailable to speak because he was getting treatment.
Brady Tkachuk of the Senators reacts angrily after being punched by the Jets’ Logan Stanley in the second period.
Batherson made the Jets pay for the double minors, though, scoring his 16th goal of the season on the power play at 15:50 of the second period for a 3-1 lead.
Chabot’s second of the night at 5:46 of the second had put the Senators ahead 2-1. Great work by Nick Jensen down low allowed Chabot to pick up a rebound and beat Hellebuyck.
“You don’t like to see that stuff happening,” said Giroux. “I don’t know if Stanley thought he was in a fight. I seriously don’t know what to say.”
Switching gears
After the incident in the second period, Tkachuk told his club to make the Jets pay by getting the win.
“I didn’t really see until they showed it,” said Batherson. “You never really want to see a play like that. Chucky wanted us to win the game, and that’s what we did. It happens, but I definitely didn’t like it.”
In the first period because the teams combined for five power plays. A lot has been made of the Senators’ penalty-killing struggles, but they killed off both opportunities the Jets had in the first 20 minutes.
The Senators were able to get three times lucky in the first period.
Chabot scored his first goal in 16 games when he fired a blast top shelf by Hellebuyck to tie the game 1-1 at 15:03.
That came on Ottawa’s third power play of the period, and Chabot’s stick broke on the shot, but it still had a lot of juice on it.
Jets captain Adam Lowry opened the scoring at 12:08 of the first period with his team shorthanded. He was able to get in behind Ottawa’s defence, broke in alone and beat Merilainen with a backhanded shot.
That was the 24th time this season the Senators had allowed the opening goal.
Senators goaltender Leevi Meriläinen makes a save during the first period against the Jets.
Net a victory
The challenge for the Senators was to beat the best goalie in the world.
The Jets have struggled this season, but Hellebuyck has given his club a chance to win after missing a lengthy stretch. He came into this game with a 13-5-1 record in 19 career games against Ottawa along with a 2.32 goals-against average and a .921 save percentage.
He hasn’t been able to get the job done since coming back from a knee injury, though.
bgarrioch@postmedia.com
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