Brady Tkachuk scored his team-leading 15th goal and added an assist, Connor Brown also had a goal and an assist and the Ottawa Senators completed a long-awaited 4-1 victory over the Washington Capitals on Sunday.
Chris Tierney had two assists. Anton Forsberg made 33 saves in Ottawa’s first victory in Washington since Jan. 21, 2014.
Nicklas Backstrom scored in the second period for the Capitals, who have now lost five straight in regulation at home and 11 of 17 overall.
Ilya Samsonov stopped 22 of the 26 shots he faced for Washington, which is not yet in jeopardy of missing the postseason despite their recent struggles.
Brady restores the two-goal lead!<a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/GoSensGo?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#GoSensGo</a> <a href=”https://t.co/A3OgWcZvh7″>pic.twitter.com/A3OgWcZvh7</a>
—@Senators
The Capitals hold an 11-point lead over Detroit for the second Eastern Conference wild-card payoff berth and are three points back of the New York Rangers for the third automatic berth in the Metropolitan division.
Despite the victory, the Senators went a sixth consecutive game without scoring on the power play (14 opportunities, this time despite playing a total of 1:50 of 5-on-3 hockey across two separate chances.
It’s Ottawa’s longest such drought in terms of games this season.
Watson suspended for 2 games
Ottawa Senators forward Austin Watson has been suspended two games by the NHL’s department of player safety for a hit on Boston’s Jack Ahcan.
Watson levelled Ahcan along the end boards midway through the first period of Ottawa’s 2-0 loss to Boston on Saturday.
Austin Watson with a late, high hit on Jack Ahcan. <br><br>Two minutes for interference. <a href=”https://t.co/oqAgDnLQHH”>pic.twitter.com/oqAgDnLQHH</a>
—@ConorRyan_93
He was handed a two-minute minor penalty for interference.
Watson, 30, will forfeit $15,000 US in salary, with the money going to the player’s emergency assistance fund.