Fowler, Vatrano power Ducks past Senators

OTTAWA -- Cam Fowler and Frank Vatrano each had a goal and two assists for the Anaheim Ducks in a 5-1 win against the Ottawa Senators at Canadian Tire Centre on Thursday.

"I thought our guys did a really good job," Fowler said. "Nobody was happy with, not just the result of [losing 5-0 to the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday], but the way that game kind of went about, so we put in a lot of good work yesterday and came to the rink ready to play tonight and it showed. I'm so proud of our guys for responding that way."

Mason McTavish scored twice, and Ryan Strome and Troy Terry each had two assists for the Ducks (19-32-2). John Gibson made 15 saves before leaving with an upper-body injury after the second period. Lukas Dostal allowed one goal on 19 shots in relief.

"His game was really good," Fowler said of McTavish. "When he's at his best, I think he's involved physically like that. He's really a prototypical power forward, so he was mixing it up all night and then got on the score sheet a couple of times. I'm sure he's pumped, and he helped the team win, but it was a big night for him as well."

Claude Giroux scored, and Joonas Korpisalo made 15 saves for the Senators (22-26-2), who had won four straight games.

"It's frustrating to have this effort tonight," Giroux said. "We've been playing some really good hockey lately. I know it happens sometimes in a season that you have a flat game like this, but with the position we're in right now, it's unacceptable."

Pavel Mintyukov gave Anaheim a 1-0 lead at 9:19 of the first period when he scored on a rebound. It was his first goal in 11 games since Dec. 18.

"Offensively, I think we were very opportunistic," Ducks coach Greg Cronin said. "We had some cycles where we kept it in their zone for a bit, but not enough for me. I thought they controlled the puck more than we did on those cycles. I thought our transition game was good and I felt the emphasis today was to defend, and I thought we defended hard."

Vatrano made it 2-0 at 17:25 of the second period with a one-timer from the right point on the power play.

"It just wasn't our best game, by any means," Ottawa defenseman Jakob Chychrun said. "We started slow, and they were just outworking us all over the ice. It's a tough one to swallow. It just seemed like we were disconnected all over the ice and they played well. So, they definitely deserve that one and we did not."

McTavish extended the lead to 3-0 at 18:59 of the second, and pushed it to 4-0 at 2:18 of the third.

"It's great to get the win here in front of a lot of friends and family," said McTavish, who grew up in Carp, Ontario, about 15 minutes northwest of the arena. "It's great for them to be here and support me."

Giroux cut it to 4-1 at 4:43 of the third, scoring on a 2-on-1.

"We didn't play our best game with or without the puck tonight," Giroux said. "Even myself, it's unacceptable the way I played, and we played. It just can't happen."

Fowler scored on the power play at 9:23 for the 5-1 final when his point shot snuck past Korpisalo.

"I just didn't think our compete level was high enough," Senators interim coach Jacques Martin said. "But give them credit; they outworked us, they worked hard, they were on the puck. We didn't have time and space. It's a team that obviously, they had lost badly the last game, had a hard practice yesterday and they got the message. We had a good stretch going, so I think that we've just got to regroup."

NOTES: Cronin did not have an update on Gibson, who was on the receiving end of two incidental collisions in the second period before being replaced by Dostal. … Vatrano, who has 41 points (23 goals, 18 assists) in 53 games this season, tied his NHL career high set last season. … Mintyukov (three goals, 17 assists) got his 20th point in his 42nd NHL game. The only defenseman in Ducks history to do so in fewer games is Fowler (38 games).