Senators pull away from Flames, end 5-game home skid

OTTAWA -- Drake Batherson had a goal and an assist for the Ottawa Senators, who ended a five-game home losing streak with a 4-1 win against the Calgary Flames at Canadian Tire Centre on Saturday.

“It’s a real good game for us,” Ottawa coach D.J. Smith said. “2-1 [lead] at home, hadn’t won here in a bit, and then come out in third and get a couple and then lock it down. I thought there were some real unselfish plays by our guys tonight that just showed our maturity.”

Rourke Chartier scored his first NHL goal in more than five years, Tim Stützle had two assists, and Joonas Korpisalo made 24 saves for the Senators (6-7-0).

“It feels good. I mean, it’s been a while since we won here,” Korpisalo said. “Especially here on a Saturday night, it feels huge. It’s huge for us.”

Blake Coleman scored, and Dustin Wolf made 34 saves in his season debut for the Flames (4-8-2).

“The American [Hockey] League is pretty different from the NHL," Wolf said. "Those are some big men out there. It’s a lot tougher for myself to fight through screens, which I thought I did a pretty good job of tonight. But at the end of the day, I felt really good.”

It was Wolf’s second NHL game and first since last season, when he made 23 saves in a 3-1 win against the San Jose Sharks on April 12.

“I thought he was excellent,” Calgary coach Ryan Huska said. “I thought he had some good poise in the net tonight. He was very calm. The one nice thing that kind of amazes me when I watch him is when pucks hit him, they don’t go anywhere. He sucks them in. He’s got an ability to control his rebounds really well.”

Mathieu Joseph gave Ottawa a 1-0 lead at 11:21 of the first period, tipping in a point shot from Jake Sanderson. It was Joseph’s fourth goal in 13 games this season, one more than he had in 56 games last season.

Batherson made it 2-0 at 3:07 of the second period when he batted in a rebound while crashing the net on a power play.

“I think a lot of guys played the right way tonight,” Senators captain Brady Tkachuk said, “Played 200-foot, and focused on playing a good [defensive] zone and just capitalized on our chances. I think the whole team played well tonight.”

Coleman cut it to 2-1 at 15:52 of the second, finishing a cross-ice pass from Martin Pospisil into an open net on a 2-on-1.

“I really thought the first two periods we played really well, honestly,” Coleman said. “It was a pretty back-and-forth game. Our line, I felt like we could have had two or three in the first period. I had some missed opportunities that I wish I could have back. But with that said, it was 2-1 going into the third and we still felt really good about our game. Just some lapses that really hurt us there. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to claw our way back into this one.”

The Flames were 0-for-3 on the power play.

“We scored one goal, and there were opportunities for us to finish in those first two periods, for sure,” Huska said. “We have to find a way to score more, but it’s sticking with it, too. That’s a big thing.”

Chartier pushed it to 3-1 at 3:50 of the third period, scoring off a tic-tac-toe passing play with Batherson and Dominik Kubalik. It was Chartier’s first NHL goal since Oct. 28, 2018, when he was a member of the San Jose Sharks.

“I think this one probably feels even better than the first one,” Chartier said. “Hopefully I don’t have to wait as long for the third one.”

Chartier stepped away from contact hockey for two years, from Feb. 2019 to Feb. 2021, due to concussion symptoms.

“As much as I hoped and knew inside myself that I would get another crack hopefully, you never really know,” Chartier said. “Obviously, I would have liked to get it a few games earlier, but definitely worth the wait.”

Travis Hamonic one-timed a pass from Stützle at the top of the slot at 5:12 for the 4-1 final.

The Senators will fly to Stockholm, Sweden, on Sunday for the 2023 NHL Global Series -- Sweden, where they will play the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday (2 p.m. ET; RDS, TSN5, NHLN, BSDET) and Minnesota Wild on Saturday (11 a.m. ET; RDS, TSN5, NHLN, BSN, BSWIX).

“I think it couldn’t come at a better time for us,” Smith said of the trip. “I think with what’s gone on, injuries and things and the noise, with situations that have happened this year, it’s the perfect time for us to be together, be together a lot, be together in another country, and play. Try to fine tune our game and continue to get better.”