Senators unable to come back against Penguins

The Ottawa Senators fell to the Pittsburgh Penguins by a score of 5-2 in Sudbury. Despite opening scoring in the game in the first period, the Senators were unable to come back when the Penguins took the lead.

The game was hosted by the town of Elliot Lake, this year’s winner of the NHL’s annual Kraft Hockeyville event which awards its winning town the opportunity to host an NHL preseason game as well as $250,000 to put towards arena upgrades. As a result of structural deficiencies, Elliot Lake’s Centennial Arena was shut down in September of 2023. Tonight’s game was held in Sudbury at the Sudbury Community Arena, instead.

The Senators opened scoring in the game off a goal by forward Nick Cousins just four minutes into the period. The goal saw Cousins lead the rush into the Penguins’ end that ultimately ended with the puck in the back of Pittsburgh goalie Tristan Jarry’s net. Forward Drake Batherson was credited with the sole assist on Cousins’ goal.

Pittsburgh wasted little time to strike back, however. At 8:54, Sidney Crosby scored to tie the game at 1-1 just under halfway through the first period.

At 12:55 in the first, the Senators regained the lead on a great goal by forward Tim Stützle, who buried the puck high short side on Jarry to bring the score to 2-1 in favour of the Senators. Defenceman Travis Hamonic and forward Claude Giroux were awarded assists on Stützle’s goal.

The rest of the period remained scoreless to close with a 2-1 Senators lead heading into the intermission.

The first half of the second period remained scoreless, with goaltender Filip Larsson entering the game halfway through the period in relief of Jarry.

At 15:00 in the second, the Penguins tied the game on the powerplay at 2-2 off a goal from forward Evgeni Malkin. Two minutes later, the Penguins struck again as Malkin scored his second of the game to give Pittsburgh a 3-2 lead.

Despite a number of close chances, the Senators were unable to find the back of the net in the second period as they finished the frame down 3-2 despite outshooting the Penguins 15-8 in the period for a total of 30-17 in favour of Ottawa over two periods.

At 7:53 of the third period, Crosby scored his second of the game on the powerplay to double the Penguins’ lead to 4-2. Shortly after, the game’s physicality swelled as both teams began to test each other’s patience, as the two teams finished the game with a combined total of 68 penalty minutes.

The Penguins secured the game off an empty net goal from Malkin, his third of the game, to make it 5-2 with just over two minutes left in the game.

Ottawa will look to bounce back on Tuesday, as the team heads to Montreal to take on the Montreal Canadiens at 7:00 p.m. ET.

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