OTTAWA – Brady Tkachuk had two goals while Tyler Motte and Shane Pinto each had a goal and an assist Saturday as the Ottawa Senators beat the Arizona Coyotes 5-2.
Motte and Mark Kastelic scored 47 seconds apart in the third period for a 5-2 Senators lead. Kastelic had a couple of whacks at the side of the goal before knocking the puck past Arizona goaltender Karel Vejmelka at 6:15.
On the next shift Batherson took a shot that Vejmelka thought he had trapped, but the puck fell into the crease where Motte was able to push it into the empty net.
Tkachuk scored on a breakaway at 12:08 for a 6-2 lead.
Josh Norris also scored for the Senators with Drake Batherson, Jake Sanderson and Tim Stutzle adding two assists each. Anton Forsberg made 20 saves for the win.
The win was the third straight at home for the Senators (3-2-0) after starting the season with two road losses.
The Coyotes (1-4-0) got goals from Dylan Guenther and Clayton Keller. Vejmelka finished with 26 saves.
The Senators opened the scoring five minutes into the game when Pinto took a shot from the slot that beat Vejmelka. Norris doubled the advantage as he tipped a point shot past Vejmelka less than two minutes later at 6:17.
That was all the scoring in the first period, but the second period started feverishly with three goals 127 seconds apart in the opening four minutes.
Guenther scored on the power play with a chip shot from the bottom of the circle that beat Forsberg at 1:40 to get the Coyotes to within a goal at 2-1. It was the first NHL goal for the 19-year old Guenther, in his fourth career game.
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Tkachuk’s power-play goal at 3:25 restored a two-goal lead for the Senators as he redirected a perfect pass from Drake Batherson at the corner of the net for a 3-1 lead.
Just 22 seconds later though, Keller, from behind the net, banked the puck of two Senators and in cutting the Arizona deficit to 3-2.
NOTES:
Defencmen Connor Timmins and Patrik Nemeth, along with forward Nick Schmaltz, were scratches for the Coyotes. Scratches for the Senators were forwards Derick Brassard and Dylan Gambrell plus defenceman Nikita Zaitsev…Saturday was the first of two meetings between the Senators and Coyotes. They will meet again in Tempe on Jan. 12…Kevin Pollock and Ghislain Hebert were the referees Saturday while Justin Johnson and Michel Cormier worked the lines.
UP NEXT:
The Coyotes will conclude their six-game road trip to start the season on Tuesday when they face the Blue Jackets in Columbus. They will then be home for four games before playing the next 14 on the road. The Senators meanwhile will play the fourth game of their five-game homestand Monday against the Dallas Stars.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 22, 2022.
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