Penguins clamp down on Senators in win

OTTAWA -- Matt Murray made 21 saves for the Pittsburgh Penguins, and Patric Hornqvist, Jake Guentzel and Riley Sheahan scored in a 3-1 win against the Ottawa Senators at Canadian Tire Centre on Thursday.
The Penguins (11-7-3), who ended a four-game road losing streak (0-2-2), have won consecutive games for the first time since Oct. 24 and 26.

Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored, and Craig Anderson made 26 saves for Ottawa (8-4-5), which lost for the first time in three games.
WATCH: [All Penguins vs. Senators highlights\]
Center Matt Duchene had five shots on goal and a minus-1 rating in 17:31 in his home debut with the Senators, who played their first game in North America since defeating the Colorado Avalanche on Friday and Saturday in the 2017 SAP NHL Global Series in Stockholm. Duchene was acquired from the Avalanche on Nov. 5 in a three-team trade that also involved the Nashville Predators.
Murray's best save came against Mike Hoffman during an Ottawa power play at 13:48 of the first period. Hoffman one-timed Mark Stone's no-look, backhand pass across the slot, but Murray stopped it with the palm of his blocker hand as he rolled across the crease to keep it 0-0.
"I played [Stone] a little too aggressively on the right side there," Murray said. "I tried to get my stick on the pass and just missed it. I knew Hoffman was over there waiting for a one-timer. He's a lefty. I just tried to kind of barrel-roll over there.
"I just tried to get whatever I could over there and still track it, still react to it. I was able to get my blocker on it. A bit lucky, but a good battle save, I guess."
Penguins captain Sidney Crosby said it was the turning point of the game.

"It looks like it's a for-sure goal with the play they made, and he's kind of down and out and finds a way to get his [blocker] on it," Crosby said. "That's a big point in the game. If they score on that, maybe they get some momentum and it's a different outcome. That was a huge save for us. We were able to settle in and generate some chances ourselves."
"Things like that are going to happen," Hoffman said. "There's good goalies in this league that make saves like that. All I'm trying to do there is hit the net with the puck in the air. I did those things. He just made a good save. Some of the time you just have to tip your hat."
Hornqvist and Guentzel each scored on a deflection late in the second period.
At 16:10, Hornqvist redirected a shot by Olli Maatta to give the Penguins a 1-0 lead. It was his seventh goal.
Guentzel scored his sixth of the season with nine seconds left in the period when he deflected a Brian Dumoulin shot past Anderson.
Pageau skated around Dumoulin and scored his second goal of the season at 10:29 of the third period to make it 2-1.
Sheahan scored into an empty net with 31 seconds left to make it 3-1. It was his first goal for Pittsburgh since being acquired in a trade from the Detroit Red Wings on Oct. 21.

Goal of the game

Guentzel's goal with nine seconds left in the second period.

Save of the game

Murray lunged to his left to stop Hoffman at 13:48 of the first period.

Highlight of the game

Anderson got his right pad on Bryan Rust's shot at 16:09 of the third period.

They said it

"We wanted to build off of last game (a 5-4 overtime win against the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday) and keep that momentum. It was nice to get a road win." -- Penguins captain Sidney Crosby
"The first period, we were foot through to the floor on them … we were getting pucks in, we were taking pucks to the net. The second, we couldn't get any flow. It was kind of a disjointed game. We allowed them to get back into it." -- Senators center Matt Duchene

Need to know

It was the first game between the teams since the Penguins eliminated the Senators from the Stanley Cup Playoffs on a goal by Chris Kunitz in the second overtime in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Final on May 25. … Ottawa defenseman Chris Wideman left the game with 3:41 left in the third period after Penguins center Evgeni Malkin fell on him. There was no update.

What's next

Penguins:Host the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; NHLN, ATTSN-PT,WGN, NHL.TV)
Senators: Host the Arizona Coyotes on Saturday (2 p.m. ET; TVA Sports, TSN5, FS-A, NHL.TV)