Ottawa, ON (SportsNetwork.com) – Mark Stone scored 2:43 into overtime as the
Ottawa Senators rallied for a 4-3 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday
night.
The Senators trailed 3-0 after one period, but made a strong pushback and
eventually tied it with 1:48 remaining in the third period.
Stone then scored his second of the game off a feed from Erik Karlsson on a 3-
on-2 rush.
Andrew Hammond made 25 saves for the Senators, who played beyond regulation
for the fifth straight game. They are 4-1 over that stretch and tied Boston
with 95 points for the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.
Sidney Crosby and Patric Hornqvist each had a goal and an assist for
Pittsburgh, which has dropped four games in a row to jeopardize a once-certain
playoff berth.
The Penguins, who got a 40-save effort from Marc-Andre Fleury, are one point
ahead of the Bruins and Senators.
Ottawa’s comeback began with a lucky bounce. While the Penguins were on a
power play, Jean-Gabriel Pageau sent a backhand pass that deflected in off the
left skate of Pittsburgh defenseman Derrick Pouliot with 5:19 remaining in the
second period.
Just 34 seconds into the third period, Stone scored to pull the Senators
within 3-2. Daniel Winnik couldn’t handle a pass from Crosby, and the turnover
led to Stone beating Fleury on the blocker side with a shot from the slot.
Mike Hoffman fired a wrist shot from the point past Fleury to tie it with
Hammond on the bench for an extra skater.
The game between Pittsburgh and Ottawa was huge and Crosby looked to set the
tone by scoring 10 seconds in. He beat Hammond with a slap shot from the left
circle. Pittsburgh defenseman Paul Martin broke up a Karlsson stretch pass to
trigger the rush that lead to Crosby’s goal.
Beau Bennett scored off a pass from Ian Cole to put Pittsburgh up 2-0 at the
5:16 mark of the first period. It was his first goal in 31 games.
Hornqvist crashed the net and swept in a rebound of a Crosby backhander to
make it 3-0 with 5:16 left before the first intermission.
Game Notes
Stone has scored five times during a four-game goal streak … Bennett scored
for the first time since Jan. 20 at Philadelphia.
