Flames drop shootout to Senators in second loss in row since firing Ward

CALGARY -- The Ottawa Senators handed the Calgary Flames a second straight loss since they fired coach Geoff Ward, 4-3 in a shootout at Scotiabank Saddledome on Sunday.

Connor Brown,
Ryan Dzingel
and Colin White scored, and Matt Murray made 31 saves for the Senators (9-17-1), who have won five of the past eight games.
"The last 10 games or so, we've really found ourselves and found our game, and we're getting better and better," Brown said. "Everyone's starting to understand their role on the team. We're believing that we are a good team. We needed to earn that sense of belief."

Drake Batherson scored the deciding goal in the fourth round of the shootout. Tim Stutzle scored in the first round for Ottawa, and Matthew Tkachuk scored in the second for Calgary.
Mark Giordano, Johnny Gaudreau and Noah Hanifin scored, and Jacob Markstrom made 19 saves for the Flames (11-12-3), who came back from down 3-1 in the third period but fell to 3-6-2 in the past 11 games.
"It stings right now," Giordano said. "We know how important these points are. In the third, we had a great push, but we've got to find a way to get two points in games. That's the bottom line now."
Calgary fired Ward on Thursday after a 7-3 win against Ottawa, replacing him with Darryl Sutter. Assistant Ryan Huska coached the Flames for the second straight game with Sutter unable to join them until Monday because of NHL COVID-19 protocols (3-2 loss at the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday).
"He demands success," Hanifin said of Sutter. "Everywhere he's went, he's won. That's something we're looking forward to having in our locker room. He's going to demand a lot out of us. I'm excited to see what he brings and what he expects of us. I think it's going to be good for our team."
Gaudreau made it 3-2 at 3:27 with a power-play goal, and Hanifin scored off a centering pass from Dillon Dube at 12:17 to tie it 3-3.
"It's a tough division," Hanifin said of the Scotia North Division. "There's going to be a lot of close games going into third periods. We've got to get comfortable making plays and playing the right way from start to finish. I wish we had played like that earlier in the game, but it's good to see some resiliency and come back and get the point."

Brown scored to give the Senators a 1-0 lead at 13:48 of the first period when his wrist shot from just inside the blue line went in off defenseman Chris Tanev.
Dzingel made it 2-0 when he finished a pass from Chris Tierney on a 2-on-0 break at 15:56.
"Something we talked about before the game, that first five, 10 minutes to keep it as simple as possible," Brown said. "We haven't started very well on the road, and that was something we addressed."
Giordano cut the Ottawa lead to 2-1 at 3:41 of the second period when his wrist shot from the point went in off forward Josh Norris.
White scored on a goalmouth scramble to make it 3-1 at 7:09. He has five goals, all against Calgary, in his past six games.
"It's just trying to be consistent night in, night out," White said. "Do all the little things around the ice. Go to the front of the net too. Good things happen."
NOTES: Sutter will coach his first game Thursday against the Montreal Canadiens. ... Hanifin has scored a goal in two straight games after going 44 without one dating to Jan. 18, 2020. ... Flames forward Joakim Nordstrom did not play because of a lower-body injury sustained against the Oilers on Saturday. ... Calgary is 0-3-1 in the second of back-to-back games. … Dzingel has scored a goal in each of his first two games since being reacquired by the Senators in trade from the Carolina Hurricanes on Feb. 13.