Mathieu Joseph and Derick Brassard each produced a goal and two assists as the Ottawa Senators won for the first time on their four-game road trip, beating the Anaheim Ducks 5-1 on Friday afternoon.
Brady Tkachuk, Tim Stutzle and Artem Zub each turned in markers. Drake Batherson had two helpers as the Senators won for the third time in their past 14 games (3-10-1) and first in three games out West (1-2-0). Goaltender Cam Talbot made 31 saves.
After a five-game absence, top defenseman Thomas Chabot returned to the lineup and made an impact running the power play. The 25-year-old Quebec native assisted on Tkachuk’s goal as Ottawa went 3-for-8 on the power play while Anaheim was 0-for-6.
Ottawa beat a Pacific Division opponent for the first time this season (1-4-0).
Max Jones scored a late goal for Anaheim, and netminder Anthony Stolarz made 28 saves as the Ducks had their four-game winning streak against the Senators end. Defenseman Nathan Beaulieu, out six games with an upper-body injury, was back in and had an assist.
In a matchup between the bottom two teams in the NHL, Anaheim got a power play early when Stutzle hit Simon Benoit in the face in retaliation during a battle in the corner. However, the Ducks’ power-play group — ranked last in the league — failed to tally despite a few good looks against Talbot.
On Anaheim’s second man advantage, Talbot made a brilliant glove save on Jakob Silfverberg’s shot from the right dot to keep the match scoreless until Ottawa went on its first advantage.
Batherson took a feed at the goal line from Chabot and quickly dished it into the slot to Tkachuk, who rapped in his eighth goal and third on the power play at 16:24 for a 1-0 lead.
Soon after, Brassard took advantage of poor backchecking by the home side, finishing off a diagonal pass from Joseph for his third tally of the year at 18:19.
The Senators went up 3-0 just 14 seconds into their third power play when Stutzle notched his eighth goal. Just over four minutes later, Zub hit the net with his second goal.
In the third, Joseph tallied his second goal with a flip shot on the power play at 6:49. Jones’ second of the year for Anaheim with 2:50 left ended the scoring.
–Field Level Media
