Tkachuk’s late strike seals dramatic win for Senators

Captain Brady Tkachuk scored in the dying minutes to lift the Ottawa Senators to a dramatic 5-4 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday night.

MAKE THAT FOUR STRAIGHT #SENS WWWWINS HEADING INTO THE BREAK‼️#GOSENSGO pic.twitter.com/Bkf6i7x2or

— Ottawa Senators (@Senators) February 1, 2023

“It’s always nice to beat them,” Tkachuk told TSN after the game. “It was one of those weird games, but we found a way and I think that just speaks volumes about our team.”

Tkachuk fired home the winner with 1:18 remaining in the third period as the Senators moved their record to one game above .500 as they head into a 10-day break in the schedule.

Tim Stutzle led the charge with two goals and four points while Claude Giroux and Alex DeBrincat also chipped in with goals. Anton Forsberg made 28 saves.

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“We found a way to win. We had a lot of good efforts. Our power play gets us a couple and that’s the difference,” Senators coach Denis Joseph “D. J.” Smith said.

“I just thought in the third period we weren’t skating. Give them credit because they came hard, but we just sat on our heels way too much. But, in saying that, when we needed to score, we scored.”

The surging Senators (24-23-3) will head into the NHL All-Star break with a sense of accomplishment, having extended their winning streak to four games.

Rafael Harvey-Pinard kept the Canadiens (20-27-4) in the game with two third-period goals. Kirby Dach and Mike Hoffman also scored for Montreal, which dropped its fourth in a row.

Jake Allen made 24 saves for the Canadiens and kept the dreaded Reverse Retro curse going as they hold a 0-6-1 record wearing light blue.

The Canadiens will host the New York Islanders while the Senators will welcome the Edmonton Oilers on Feb. 11.