Tkachuk scores overtime winner against Avalanche

The Ottawa Senators made it two wins in a row as they beat the Colorado Avalanche 6-5 in overtime at Canadian Tire Centre Saturday night.

Brady Tkachuk had the overtime winner, as well as a goal in regulation, while Tim Stützle (2), Austin Watson and Josh Norris also scored for the Senators (6-15-1) as Anton Forsberg stopped 26 shots. Darren Helm, Gabriel Landeskog, Alex Newhook, Tyson Jost and Devon Toews had goals for the Avalanche. Jonas Johansson made 11 saves before being replaced by Justus Annunen.
"That was a good effort by our team," Tkachuk said. "I think we're trending in the right direction. We believe we'd had some great efforts but we know we've got more.
"I know we're getting more and more confident each and every day."
After the Avs erased a 5-2 deficit to send the game to overtime, Tkachuk made sure the Sens got the two points as he beat Annunen between his left pad and glove on a breakaway 51 seconds in.
"With all the ice, I told myself I better score," Tkachuk said.
The visitors jumped out to a 1-0 lead just 86 seconds in as Nicolas Aube-Kubel found Helm all alone in front of Forsberg and the veteran forward outwaited the Sens netminder before beating him with a backhander.
But the Sens rebounded positively with a pair of goals in 29 seconds. Tkachuk grabbed his sixth of the year at 5:28 as he joined the rush to take Stützle's pass in the slot and beat Johansson.
The Senators had the lead less than 30 seconds later as Dylan Gambrell brilliantly threaded the needle between two Avs defenders to find Watson back door where he buried his first goal of the year.
"I'd call them our important line," Sens head coach D.J. Smith said of the Gambrell, Watson and Zach Sanford line. "They gave us all their shifts they had tonight."
Colorado tied the game at 8:19 as Toews ripped a one-timer from the blue line that was tipped by the Avalanche captain, Landeskog, for his eighth goal of the year to make it 2-2.
The Sens came out flying to start the second period and grabbed a 3-2 lead just 1:13 in as Stützle drove the net but was taken out from behind by Jack Johnson and crashed into Johansson. A goal was given, and despite a review, it stood as the German recorded his second goal of the season.
It was 4-2 at 2:49 as Norris reached double digits as he was on hand to bury a rebound once Tkachuk's initial shot had been saved by Johansson. That'd spell the end of the night for the Avs starter who was pulled for Annunen, who made his NHL debut, and made 17 saves.
The change of goalies couldn't stop the Sens from pushing its lead to 5-2 as on the power play Drake Batherson found Stützle with a gorgeous cross-ice feed before he outwaited Erik Johnson and fired a wrister over Annunen's glove at 7:46.
"The no-look, I've seen it so many times from him," Stützle said of Batherson's pass. "He's one of the best play-makers."
However, the Avs mounted a comeback that started with Newhook scoring a wonderful solo goal at 9:36 to cut the Ottawa lead to 5-3 after 40 minutes.
Colorado made it a one-goal game just 1:52 into third as Jost tipped Nathan MacKinnon's point. The Avs thought they tied the game with 2:46 to play but after a review by Smith, the call was overturned for offside. But it'd be short-lived as a Toews shot from the blue line evaded traffic with 1:20 left to send the game to overtime.
"We've got to find a way to keep those pucks out at the end," Smith said. "We backed down too often so we have to stay on the forecheck and stay hungry but that's just a sign of a team that hasn't won a lot.
"But as we get more comfortable in these games and win a little bit more, we'll start to be more comfortable."
With three points tonight, Stützle joined Tkachuk as the only players to record three career three-point games as a teenager for the Sens.
Ottawa is back in action Monday when they visit the New Jersey Devils. The team returns home the next night to host the New York Islanders.