Vancouver Canucks goalie Braden Holtby makes a save on a penalty shot attempt taken by Ottawa Senators forward Alex Formenton in the second period at Rogers Arena on April 24, 2021.Bob Frid/USA TODAY Sports via Reuters
Tanner Pearson scored the tiebreaking goal with 6:15 left in the third period and the Vancouver Canucks beat the visiting Ottawa Senators 4-2 on Saturday night.
With the Senators trailing 2-1 and minutes after they killed a 5-on-3 Vancouver power-play chance, Evgenii Dadonov drilled the puck over the glove of Canucks goaltender Braden Holtby (26 saves) to tie the game with 8:08 left in regulation.
But less than two minutes later, Pearson took a pass in the slot from Bo Horvat (two assists), positioned himself and drove the puck inside the left post to give Vancouver the lead back.
Nate Schmidt, Brock Boeser and J.T. Miller, who recorded an assist, also scored for the Canucks (19-19-3, 41 points), who rebounded from a 3-0 loss to Ottawa on Thursday while improving to 3-1-0 since their extended COVID-19 pause.
Looking to complete a perfect four-game road stretch, Ottawa (17-27-4, 38 points) was slated to start Anton Forsberg in goal. However, he was scratched after suffering a lower-body injury prior to the game, according to the Senators’ communications staff.
Matt Murray, who had two shutouts in his previous three starts, got the start but left with 15:33 left in the second period with a lower-body injury. Marcus Hogberg, in his first action since April 7, stepped in and stopped 18 of 20 shots.
Vancouver wasted no time getting on the board.
Just 1:43 into the game, Schmidt took advantage of an Ottawa turnover and beat Murray from the slot for the game’s first goal. The Senators, though, answered at the 8:32 mark of the opening frame through Colin White, who pushed the puck in through some net-front traffic to snap a 10-game point drought.
However, minutes after Murray (12 saves) exited, Vancouver regained the lead via the power play through Boeser. It was his 17th of the season and first since March 20.
Ottawa had a golden opportunity to tie the game with 4:09 left in the second period, but Holtby made an easy stop on Alex Formenton’s penalty shot. The Senators also went 0-for-6 on the power play.
Miller added an empty-netter for insurance.
These teams will play again Monday and Wednesday at Ottawa.