Recap: Senators score an OT victory against Penguins

The Ottawa Senators defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 2-1 in overtime on Tuesday night in front of a sell out crowd at Canadian Tire Centre.

Drake Batherson ended the game on a one-timer from a very sharp angle to beat Penguins goalie Tristan Jarry.

“You know it was a nice play by Sandy (Jake Sanderson) there to Timmy (Stützle),” explained Batherson following the game. “Then Timmy made a nice play to me, backdoor, and I was able to squeeze it in but I’ll take it for sure.”

The win was the Senators first win in their last seven games, but their sixth in their last eight home games.

“I thought we battled hard and they are a team that plays hard and plays the right way,” said interim head coach Jacques Martin.  “I thought we were composed and we did a lot of good things there were some ups and downs within the game and we handled it really well.”

“We had a goal taken away and we didn’t pack it in and I liked how we came out in the third period.”

Michael Bunting was able to tie it 1-1 with only 23 seconds remaining in the third period for Pittsburgh, for his first goal since being acquired from the Carolina Hurricanes.

For the Senators, a big part of the offense tonight was Jake Sanderson. Sanderson scored his eighth of the season mid-way through the third period to give the Senators the first goal of the game and later assisted on the game winner.

“Especially the way it went tonight . . just back and forth. Two-on-ones, breakaways,” Sanderson explained about the overtime period. “You don't like to see it going down on your goalie, but on the other end it is exciting and it fires up the fans and when it gets loud in this barn it's pretty cool."

As you would expect in a 2-1 overtime game goaltending was the biggest story. Joonas Korpisalo stopped 34 of the 35 shots he faced.

“"My kind of game, 2-1 . . . it should have been 1-0, but that's okay. I'm flexible,” joked Martin after the game. “I think both goalies made some great saves and the game could have been 4-3.”

“We had some good chances and they had some good chances and both goalies were great.”

Despite this great play the score could have been much different based on the outcome of a play in the mid-point of the game. With four minutes played in the second period Mathieu Joseph thought he had given the Senators the lead when he put a puck past Jarry. However, despite being called a goal on the ice it was overturned upon further review.

“I think there was (contact with) a stick there early on,” Martin added. “It’s a judgement call for the official, if the goalie had time to reset or not and I felt it could go either way.

Making his debut tonight was Senators 2021 second round pick Zack Ostapchuk.

“I'm going to remember this for the rest of my life, it was probably the coolest night of my life,” said the six-foot-three forward.

From arriving at the building, his rookie lap, his first shot on goal there will be no shortage of memories for Ostapchuk. The biggest memory of the night may end up being a surprise that nobody saw coming.

“Yeah I was a little surprised when they gave me a tap and said you're going,” he explained about going into the game during overtime. “Then I saw Crosby and my heart started beating a little bit.”

“I am thankful that they trusted me to go out there and it’s a great experience.”

The Senators will practice tomorrow in Ottawa before heading on the road to face the Blue Jackets on Thursday night and the Islanders on Saturday afternoon.