Senators score 4 in 1st, shut out Utah Hockey Club

SALT LAKE CITY -- The Ottawa Senators scored four goals in an 8:09 span in the first period in a 4-0 win against the Utah Hockey Club at Delta Center on Tuesday.

Brady Tkachuk scored for the third straight game, and Nick Jensen had two assists for the Senators (4-2-0), who have won three of four. Anton Forsberg made 31 saves for his sixth NHL shutout.

“I thought the first period was almost a tale of two periods,” Ottawa coach Travis Green said. “[It] took us probably ten minutes to get our legs under us to catch up to the speed of the game. They’ve got a very fast team, and I felt like we were a little on our heels a little bit early and [Forsberg] kept us in it.”

Connor Ingram allowed four goals on nine shots for Utah (4-2-1), which has lost three of four. Karel Vejmelka replaced him to begin the second period and stopped all 14 shots he faced.

“A couple of mistakes cost us,” Utah captain Clayton Keller said. “They played well, they made it hard on us. It’s something we’ll learn from ... and next time we’ll know what to expect.”

Utah controlled the first ten minutes of the first period, outshooting Ottawa 8-1.

“We had them where we wanted. We played well,” Utah coach Andre Tourigny said. “We just need to stay patient, stay humble, go one shift at a time. We got ahead of ourselves and we paid for it.”

Drake Batherson gave Ottawa a 1-0 lead during a 4-on-4 at 11:43 of the first. He scored from the bottom of the left circle off a cross-seam pass from Josh Norris.

“They came out hard, obviously,” Forsberg said. “They got a few chances there from the start. Sometimes when it goes your way it's a lot easier because you get into it without thinking much. So, it was good, and it kind of rolled on from that.”

Claude Giroux made it 2-0 during the same 4-on-4 at 13:06. Jensen intercepted a pass in the neutral zone and skated in on a 2-on-1 before passing to Giroux, who kicked the puck to his stick and chipped a shot over Ingram's glove.

“It's fun hockey. I'm sure the fans love it,” Giroux said. “We're confident in our 5-on-5, but we were able to get two goals there (at 4-on-4), so that was huge.”

Ridly Greig, who missed the previous three games with an upper-body injury, scored his first of the season on the power play at 18:05 to extend the lead to 3-0. He found a loose puck in the right circle and beat Ingram with a quick shot five-hole.

Tkachuk made it 4-0 at 19:52, scoring on a rebound in front. He has eight points (three goals, five assists) during a season-opening six-game point streak.

Utah responded by outshooting Ottawa 14-5 in the second period. Its best chance to get back in the game came at 7:51, when Forsberg made back-to-back saves on Keller and Barrett Hayton.

"He was great tonight, he was phenomenal," Green said. "I'm really happy for [Forsberg] to give us a game like that."