OTTAWA — Drake Batherson scored two power-play goals, and the Ottawa Senators rallied for a 5-2 win against the Washington Capitals at the Canadian Tire Center on Thursday.
“It’s a different team here and there’s more maturity,” Ottawa coach DJ Smith said. “They’re able to be more composed and they’re able to turn it up another gear. Clearly, we weren’t at the gear we wanted to be. [in the first period], but give that dressing room credit. Those guys, what they did, got themselves ready for the second and third.”
Shane Pinto extended his goal streak to three games, and Brady Tkachuk had two assists for the Senators (2-2-0). Anton Forsberg made 22 saves.
“I thought we played amazing,” Forsberg said of the third period. “[Washington] didn’t have anything really to come with. I felt like we backchecked, we forechecked, we did all the right things, and if we keep playing like that it will be a fun season.”
Video: WSH@OTT: Batherson scores his second goal of the game
TJ Oshie and Anthony Mantha scored, and Darcy Kuemper made 39 saves for the Capitals (2-3-0).
“We shot ourselves in the foot too many times with the puck,” Washington coach Peter Laviolette said. “The first period, we did exactly what we wanted to do. We put the puck north, we put it behind them, we’re in the offensive zone, we’re delivering pucks at the net. The second period and third period, we played east-west hockey, we didn’t deliver any pucks. Not good enough.”
Oshie gave the Capitals a 1-0 lead at 10:01 of the first period when he one-timed a centering pass from Marcus Johansson on a two-man advantage.
“The power-play goals were the reason we were up in the first period,” Washington defenseman John Carlson said. “But I thought we were doing the right things with the puck and not letting them transition. We knew what kind of team they were. They’ve got a lot of talent, a lot of young guys that are working hard.”
Video: WSH@OTT: Pinto buries the go-ahead goal in the 3rd period
Mantha made it 2-0 just 34 seconds later at 10:35 on a one-timer from Dmitry Orlov into the top right corner.
But the Senators rallied when Batherson one-timed a cross-ice pass from Tkachuk on the power play to cut it to 2-1 at 5:48 of the second period, then tied it 2-2 at 7:39, also on the man-advantage, when he scored on a rebound of Thomas Chabot’s shot.
“They had two power-play goals to start off the game, and for us to answer back and get two like that is obviously big,” Batherson said. “You’ve got to have a good power play to win.”
Pinto broke a 2-2 tie 5:53 into the third period when he took a centering pass from Tyler Motte in the slot and scored with a wrist shot under Kuemper’s right arm.
“It’s unreal,” Batherson said of Pinto’s release. “I got to skate with him for a month and a half last year when we were both injured. I know what type of player he is. I was telling people all summer to watch this kid this year.”
Video: WSH@OTT: Batherson scores PPG in 2nd period
Motte scored into an empty net with 37 seconds remaining to make it 4-2, and Alex DeBrincat scored his first goal with Ottawa, also into an empty net, with eight seconds left for the 5-2 final.
The Senators outshot the Capitals 37-12 over the last two periods.
“I feel like the first 20 (minutes) we were chipping pucks with speed, going on the forecheck and turning pucks over,” Oshie said. “By the end of the first, I thought we’d backed them up a little bit. I believe we had some entries just by carrying the puck. We were shooting, we were supporting each other, and that kind of just went away. I don’t know, maybe they tired us out or we got a little over-confident with the puck, or whatever it was.”
NOTES: It was the first time the Senators defeated the Capitals at home since Jan. 24, 2017; Washington won the previous three here. … Tkachuk had a game-high eight shots on goal.
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