Ottawa Senators end up skidding with dominant 5-1 win over Anaheim Ducks
They entered Friday’s game with a 2-10-1 record in the previous 13 games, but left town with their first win in Anaheim since Jan. 9, 2019.
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Senators 5, Ducks 1
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ANAHEIM — The Ottawa Senators have never been more grateful for Thanksgiving.
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The Senators got off the mat and started to find their way to respectability with a 5-1 victory over the Anaheim Ducks on an American Thanksgiving matinee at the Honda Center.
Led by a solid effort from goaltender Cam Talbot, the Senators outscored the Ducks in every category. Mathieu Joseph and Derick Brassard had three points, while Brady Tkachuk, Tim Stutzle and Artem Zub also contributed with goals against Anaheim goaltender Anthony Stolarz.
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Max Jones broke Talbot’s shutout offer with 2:50 left in the third period.
The victory ended a three-game losing streak, including two to start the Senators’ current trip: 5-1 in San Jose on Monday and 4-1 in Las Vegas on Wednesday. The effort was better against the Golden Knights, but the result was not there.
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It was a battle between two teams in the basement of the National Hockey League’s overall standings with 13 points. While the Ducks have entered the rebuilding phase, the Senators are supposed to be better than this and they will need more efforts like this.
They entered this game 2-10-1 in the previous 13 games, but left town with their first win in Anaheim since Jan. 9, 2019.
Talbot made his third straight start in net; Anton Forsberg is out with an unspecified lower body injury.
Talbot also entered that game with a 14-7-2 lifetime record against the Ducks, plus a 2.07 goals-against average.
He made key saves early in Friday’s game to keep the Ducks at bay and then got the offensive support needed.
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The Senators had a four-goal lead in the third period, then Joseph scored on the power play at 6:49 to make it 5-0.
Zub’s second of the season, with a shot from the top of the crevice area, beat Stolarz with 5:04 left in the second period for a 4-0 advantage.
Stutzle’s eighth of the season, also on the power play, had given his club a 3-0 advantage at 10:29 of the second. He took a pass and fired a blast through Stolarz.
The Senators also scored two goals in the first period.
Winger Mathieu Joseph showed great patience, setting up Brassard for his third of the season at 18:19. Brassard took a steal pass from Joseph before shooting the puck through Stolarz on the blocker side.
Tkachuk’s third power-play goal of the season opened the scoring. He took a perfect feed into Drake Batherson’s lunge and beat Stolarz with the fifth shot of the contest. The Senators needed it because the Ducks were pushing hard and forced Talbot to make some big saves.
The Senators will face the Los Angeles Kings on Sunday to conclude this road trip.
bgarrioch@postmedia.com
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