Tim Stutzle recorded a goal and two assists in his 250th career game as the Ottawa Senators rolled to a 6-2 victory over the visiting Montreal Canadiens on Thursday night.
Stutzle, who has seven points in three games after registering one in his previous seven contests, snapped a 10-game goal drought with his eighth in the first period.
He then earned assists on goals by Vladimir Tarasenko and Mathieu Joseph. Brady Tkachuk and Parker Kelly each had a goal and an assist and Rourke Chartier also scored for the Senators, who matched their highest goal total of the season while earning their second win in three games.
Cole Caufield scored in his fourth straight contest and Michael Pezzetta also had a goal for Montreal, which was trying for a season-high third straight win. Instead, the Canadiens were manhandled while taking their seventh consecutive loss to Ottawa.
Seconds after Montreal’s Juraj Slafkovsky hit the crossbar, Ottawa transitioned to open the scoring 8:40 into the game. Off a pass from Ridly Greig, Tkachuk went blocker side to beat the Canadiens’ Cayden Primeau (32 saves) for his 19th goal.
In similar fashion, a streaking Stutzle wristed the puck home for his first goal since Dec. 23 at 11:07 of the first.
Montreal cut the deficit in half at 13:25 of the opening frame. After Sean Monahan lifted the stick of Jacob Bernard-Docker to nab the puck, he sent it into the high slot for Caufield to unleash a shot off the glove of Ottawa’s Joonas Korpisalo (21 saves) and in.
The Senators regained their two-goal edge at 9:51 of the second. Chartier was in the right spot to put home a rebound for his second goal of the season.
Ottawa made it 4-1 with 1:06 to go in the middle frame. Again, in transition, Stutzle dropped the puck to Tkachuk, who sent it over for Tarasenko to bury.
Perhaps Stutzle’s prettiest moment of the night came when he went forehand-backhand to drop a pass for Joseph to send in a laser just 1:41 into the third.
Kelly added an empty-net goal before Pezzetta rounded out the scoring.
–Field Level Media
