Tkachuk scores twice late, lifts Senators past Rangers in OT

NEW YORK -- Brady Tkachuk scored with 18 seconds remaining in overtime after tying the score in the final minute of regulation, and the Ottawa Senators rallied to defeat the New York Rangers 3-2 at Madison Square Garden on Friday.

Tkachuk beat Igor Shesterkin with a move to his backhand in overtime to win it.
Playing his 300th NHL game, Tkachuk scored his 100th career goal at 19:11 of the third period, tying it 2-2 from between the face-off circles on a deflection off Thomas Chabot's shot from the blue line.
"Everybody stepped up in here tonight," Tkachuk said. "It was a huge game for us, a huge game for our confidence. Hopefully now we get on a little bit of a run here."
Cam Talbot made 25 saves, including stopping Mika Zibanejad on a breakaway at 3:26 of overtime. The Senators (9-13-1) have won three straight road games since going 1-6-1 in their first eight.

Zibanejad and Vitali Kravtsov scored, and Shesterkin made 34 saves for New York (11-9-5), which fell to 4-5-4 at home this season, including 0-2-1 in its past three games. The Rangers are 1-4 in overtime games.
"It wasn't good enough," New York coach Gerard Gallant said. "I mean, we had two chances in overtime, but we didn't play well enough to even be there, to be honest with you. We were fortunate to be 2-2, but it wasn't good enough, especially the first two periods."
Tkachuk had an assist on
Tim Stutzle's
goal, a team-high eight shots on goal and a spirited fight with Rangers defenseman Jacob Trouba at 14:58 of the second period.
"Outstanding," Ottawa coach D.J. Smith said of Tkachuk. "Just stayed with it all night. Could have scored in the first. Stayed with it, physical. Obviously, the fight, that's a big boy fight. And then scored. There's not much more you can ask of a guy."
New York has lost four of its past five games (1-3-1), including two in which it held a lead in the third period.
The Rangers were up 3-0 against the Edmonton Oilers going into the third on Nov. 26 but lost 4-3 in regulation. They also led 2-0 in the first period against the New Jersey Devils on Monday but gave up the next four goals in a 5-3 loss.
"Just feels disappointing right now," Zibanejad said. "I didn't think we played good enough in the first or second. We did a little bit of a better job in the third. But it's definitely disappointing to do that, especially with [Shesterkin] giving us a chance to win."
Zibanejad gave the Rangers a 2-1 lead at 6:03 of the third, scoring from the front of the left post off a rebound after Braden Schneider's initial shot hit Artem Zub in the face, requiring stitches for the Senators defenseman.

Ottawa believed it might have scored a tying goal at 12:42 even though the official never ruled it a goal. Video review showed the puck was under Shesterkin's pad when Dylan Gambrell pushed it into the net, so the no-goal call on the ice stood.
But the Senators kept the pressure on, and eventually Chabot was able to keep the puck in at the blue line, leading to Tkachuk's game-tying goal that was Ottawa's first 6-on-5 goal this season.
"[Tkachuk's] getting better and better with his hands, clearly tipping pucks and banging them in," Smith said. "Then in overtime he finds another gear, could have had two. Just wasn't going to be denied."
Tkachuk said Talbot's save on Zibanejad in overtime gave the Senators the surge they needed to win it in overtime and avoid a shootout.
"He kept us in it," Tkachuk said. "It definitely gave us a burst on the bench."
Kravtsov put New York ahead 1-0 at 10:31 of the first with his first goal of the season after collecting his own rebound of a shot that was blocked by Travis Hamonic, then beating Talbot far side from the bottom of the left circle.
Hamonic was struck in the throat by the puck and left the game for the remainder of the first, but returned for the second.
Ottawa thought it tied the game on a would-be goal by Claude Giroux at 11:14 of the second, but it was overturned after the Rangers successfully challenged for offside. Video review confirmed Tkachuk preceded the puck into the offensive zone six seconds earlier.
The Senators did tie it 1-1 at 12:16 when Stutzle scored a power-play goal off a scramble in front of the net.
NOTES: Tkachuk is the second player from the 2018 NHL Draft to score 100 goals, joining Carolina Hurricanes forward Andrei Svechnikov, who has 103. Svechnikov was the No. 2 pick; Tkachuk was No. 4. … Smith said Hamonic (throat) and Zub (face) would be re-evaluated and the hope is both can play against the San Jose Sharks at Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa on Saturday. … Rangers forward Artemi Panarin and defenseman Adam Fox each got their 20th assist of the season on Kravtsov's goal. The Rangers join the Oilers as the two teams in the NHL with at least two players with 20 assists (Connor McDavid, 24, Leon Draisaitl, 22).