Tkachuk scores 25 seconds into OT to lift Senators over Penguins

Brady Tkachuk started his day by fulfilling a seven-year-old boy’s wish, but in the end, the youngster proved to be the good luck charm the Ottawa Senators needed.

“I had a blast today just to meet him and meet his sister Lily,” said Tkachuk of the interaction with Daniel Maloney, a Make-A-Wish recipient who’s a Senators fan.

“To see how much fun he had in the morning and see him buzz around there for warm-ups and get that goal at the end was amazing and put a smile on all our faces. I feel like he’s the reason we won tonight.”

WATCH | Tkachuk sinks Penguins in overtime:

The four power-play goals the Senators scored might have also played a part.

Wednesday night marked the first time since 2005 that a Senators team scored four power-play goals in a game and they were clearly the difference.

“It’s pretty tough to assess a game like that when half of the game is special teams,” said Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan. “There was no flow to it, there was no five-on-five. It was ridiculous.

“Let’s just say I question a fair amount of the calls.”

Ottawa’s power play has sputtered lately despite flashing excellence at times this season.

“I think they were a little quicker tonight,” said Senators coach D.J. Smith. “I think of late we’ve been a little bit slow.

“I think we were too deliberate and then when you score one early it just seems to go a little bit better and we’ve got good players.”

Alex DeBrincat, Tim Stützle, Drake Batherson and Shane Pinto also scored for Ottawa (20-21-3), which went four-for-nine with the man advantage.

Tkachuk added three assists and Cam Talbot stopped 15 shots.

Despite not having the best of nights, there were no fingers pointed Talbot’s way.

“He’s been unreal for us whenever he’s been in the cage,” said Tkachuk. “I mean, the first one it was tipped off my stick and completely messed him up so I should have blocked it or something.

“He’s been great for us; he made the save when we needed him to.”