The Ottawa Senators got a much-needed shot of confidence Thursday night.
Alex DeBrincat had two goals and an assist, Brady Tkachuk added another two goals and Ottawa routed the visiting Tampa Bay Lightning 7-2. Over their last 10 games, the Senators had gone 3-6-1 and saw their chances at making the post-season become extremely slim.
“It’s big for us,” said Ottawa defenceman Thomas Chabot. “Obviously, we’ve felt like we’ve been playing some good hockey lately, but obviously not getting the results we wanted.
Derick Brassard, Erik Brannstrom and Austin Watson added the others for Ottawa (35-32-5), while Mads Sogaard made 27 saves.
“It’s nice to get a definitive win for this group,” said DeBrincat. “I thought we played pretty good from start to finish.”
WATCH | DeBrincat scores pair in win over Lightning:
A pair of goals by Alex DeBrincat helped Ottawa defeat Tampa Bay 7-2 Thursday night.
The victory marks Ottawa’s first 35-win season since the 2015-16 campaign.
Brayden Point and Mikhail Sergachev scored for Tampa Bay (42-25-6). Brian Elliott stopped 28 shots.
Tampa Bay head coach Jon Cooper was unimpressed with his team’s performance. Cooper had made it clear to his squad that the Senators love to play off the rush and told them specifically not to feed Ottawa’s rush.
However, he felt his team did that all night long.
The Lightning are on a three-game losing streak, having been outscored 15-6 through the stretch.
“I think we’re feeling sorry for ourselves a tiny bit,” admitted Cooper. “Because they know better. That’s what makes it tough is because they know they’re making these mistakes.”
The Senators dominated play for much of the game, but Tampa Bay was still within striking distance early in the third period.
Sergachev made it a one-goal game 4:10 into the frame with a power-play marker.
But less than two minutes later, Brannstrom had a beautiful end-to-end rush culminating with a shot into the top corner to make it 4-2 for Ottawa. It was only Brannstrom’s second of the season, but the 23-year-old has shown significant improvement and poise…
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