Batherson scores twice, gives Senators OT victory against Devils

OTTAWA --Drake Batherson scored 3:17 into overtime to give the Ottawa Senators a 5-4 win against the New Jersey Devils at Canadian Tire Centre on Tuesday.

"Pucks just kept coming to him and he got more and more confident as he got the puck," Ottawa coach D.J. Smith said. "He was off nine weeks (high ankle sprain) and then he got sick and he lost 10 pounds and just hasn't been himself, even at practice. He's just starting to get back going again and getting in a rhythm, and today, offensively, he was great."
Batherson toe-dragged New Jersey defenseman Ty Smith and beat Mackenzie Blackwood five-hole for his second goal of the game.
"I didn't have the speed to beat [Smith] wide, so I got his feet turned and just tried a move," Batherson said. "I got lucky and it went in. I'll take it. It's always nice to get one in overtime."

Tim Stutzle
had two goals and two assists, Brady Tkachuk had three assists, and Anton Forsberg made 37 saves for the Senators (32-41-7), who have won a season-high four straight.
"We didn't play a great game today," Stutzle said. "I think it was pretty solid, but we could have played way better. And at the end, well, what a goal by Drake to get us the win."
Nolan Foote scored twice, and Pavel Zacha had a goal and an assist for the Devils (27-44-9), who have lost four in a row (0-2-2). Blackwood made 29 saves in his first start since Jan. 19.
"You don't know what to expect. It's been a long, tough road for him," New Jersey coach Lindy Ruff said. "There's times he looked real comfortable, and there's times that, you know, when you get back into game situations it's a lot different than practice. And as a team, we haven't had many high-intensity practices, so for him to face different kinds of shots, and deal with some of the mistakes we made … I think for him, there's a lot of times he moved well and read plays really well."
Blackwood missed 41 games with a foot injury.
"Some good things, some bad things," Blackwood said of his performance. "For having three months off, there wasn't a lot of practice. My foot's feeling better. Obviously, some things, like in game time and practice, that I can sharpen up. Overall, for my first one back in so long, it was all right."
Thomas Chabot gave the Senators a 1-0 lead with 17 seconds remaining in the first period on a tic-tac-toe passing play on the power play. Tkachuk took a pass down low from Stutzle and found Chabot across the crease for the tap-in.
Batherson made it 2-0 11 seconds into the second period when he took a centering pass from Tkachuk and beat Blackwood with a wrist shot glove side.
"The puck just seemed to be finding me," Batherson said. "I had a couple of good scoring chances early. The puck was coming to me. I just felt good tonight. I think our whole line, our legs were there tonight and we were creating all night, so it was fun to get the win and make it four in a row."

Foote cut it to 2-1 at 8:52 when he took a cross-ice pass from Fabian Zetterlund and scored a wrist shot into the top right corner. With the secondary assist, Reilly Walsh got his first point in his NHL debut.
Stutzle made it 3-1 at 16:41 when he scored on the rebound of a Tkachuk shot on the power play.
Foote scored his second goal of the game to cut it to 3-2 at 19:54.
"It's huge. It's really important for me as a player," Foote said. "It's good for confidence, and all that sort of stuff. [I'm] just continuing to build my game. Obviously, the playoffs in Utica [of the American Hockey League] are going to be, hopefully, a long, good push. It feels good going into that."
Stutzle made it 4-2 at 6:34 of the third period with a backhand deke on a shorthanded breakaway.
"I love it. I mean, I think it gets you in the game," Stutzle said of being put on the penalty kill. "Especially if there's so many penalties. If you don't play [penalty kill] you just sit there, kind of. You don't move. So yeah, it felt really good."

Zacha cut it to 4-3 at 7:29 when he one-timed a pass from Jesper Bratt on a 3-on-2 rush. Yegor Sharangovich tied it 4-4 at 10:15 when he beat Forsberg five-hole with a backhand in tight.
"When you look at it," Ruff said, "Zetterlund was in on a play, Reilly was in on a play, Nolan Foote was in on a couple. A lot of young guys helped us get a point in tonight's game."
NOTES: It's the first four-game winning streak for Ottawa under Smith, who was hired in 2019. … Chabot had a game-high six shots on goal. … Walsh had two shots and two blocked shots in 14:23 after being recalled from Utica of the American Hockey League on Monday.