*Photo from the Herald Bulletin*
It was a good night to be Ottawa Senators forward Drake Batherson. Batherson scored the shootout winner, Ryan Dzingel scored his first goal since being traded, and the Senators outlasted the Calgary Flames with a 4-3 shootout win in Calgary Sunday night. Dzingel scored his first goal with the Senators after being traded by the Carolina Hurricanes in February.
Connor Brown started the scoring for the Senators 13:48 into the first period, with his 6th goal of the season. At 15:56, Dzingel made the Ottawa lead 2-0. In the second period, Mark Giordano scored for the Flames, and Colin White added one for the Senators, making it 3-1 after two periods. In the 3rd, a power play goal by Johnny Gaudreau and a tally by Noah Hanifin tied things up at 3. In the shootout, Matthew Tkachuk scored for Calgary, but Tim Stutzle equalized it, and Batherson sent the game winning goal into the net two rounds later.
Senators head coach DJ Smith said of the win that the "Penalty kill was outstanding. I thought our compete level was outstanding. We stayed with it, young guys got froze out of the game because of that many penalties, and were still able to make plays when we needed them."
Matt Murray picked up the hard fought win for Ottawa, stopping 31 shots out of the 34 that came his way in regulation and overtime. Murray's solid performance upped his record to 7-11-1 this season, with the Senators themselves still sitting in 7th place in the NHL's North Division, with a 9-17-1 record on the season.
Brown addressed the quick start by the Senators after the game, saying that "We haven't started very well on the road and that was something we addressed and we came out hard and we simplified. We didn't try to make too many plays until our legs were under us and then we capitalized on our chances."
Flames goalie Jacob Markstrom was hit with the loss this time around, saving 19 shots out of 22 that came his way in regulation and overtime. After missing a spell of time due to injury, Markstrom has lost his first two starts since returning to the goal crease for the Flames. Markstrom sits at 8-7-2 record on the season, with the struggling Flames at 11-12-3 this season, 5th in the North Division.
Giordano addressed the loss after the game, saying that "It stings right now. We know how important these points are. We've got to come out better than we did. In the third we had a great push, but we've got to find a way to get two points in games and that's the bottom line right now."
The Senators play the Edmonton Oilers tonight in Edmonton, with backup Joey Daccord drawing the start for Ottawa, his second of the season. Calgary doesn't play until Thursday, when they welcome the Montreal Canadiens to town. Markstrom looks to draw the start that game.
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