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Ben Kindel scored the shootout winner to lead the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 4-3 win over the Ottawa Senators on Thursday night.
Rickard Rakell scored twice and had an assist and Erik Karlsson also scored for the Penguins, who moved into second in the Metropolitan Division.
Drake Batherson scored twice and Nick Cousins tallied once for the Senators. Tim Stützle added two assists.
Both Linus Ullmark and Stuart Skinner made huge saves in overtime to force the shootout.
Pittsburgh opened the third period on the power play with a two-man advantage after Ottawa took a late tripping penalty and got called early too many men. The Penguins capitalized with Rakell scoring his second of the game at 1:43.
Just over two minutes later, the Senators tied the game with Batherson burying a rebound in the crease for his second of the game. Pittsburgh challenged for goaltender interference but was unsuccessful.
Penguins captain Sidney Crosby took the opening shift of the second period but left after 38 seconds and did not return.
With an assist on the opening goal, Stützle picked up his 400th point and became the seventh player, and youngest, in franchise history to hit the milestone.
Playoff jockeying
Following a 3-2 win over the Detroit Red Wings earlier in the week, the Senators found themselves in the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. But Thursday’s defeat put them back on the outside looking in.
“Right now, we obviously want to get two,” said forward Drake Batherson, who scored a pair of goals and set a career high in goals with 29. “We’ll take the point and we’ve got another big one against Tampa Saturday.”
The fight for playoff positioning in the Eastern Conference is a highly contested battle.
“Everybody knows the situation that the East has become,” said Pittsburgh’s Erik Karlsson. “Every game feels like a must win. You win you’re in, you lose one you’re out.”
The Penguins are one of a handful of teams the Senators are battling for playoff positioning.
Defensive call-ups
Ottawa has managed to remain competitive despite missing its top two defencemen, as well as two depth defencemen.
Jake Sanderson has missed the last 10 games but could be poised to return if he continues to progress. He will travel to Florida with the team.
Thomas Chabot will miss four to eight weeks after undergoing surgery on his forearm Thursday. Dennis Gilbert is expected to miss three weeks. Lassi Thompson will also travel to Florida, but like Sanderson, remains questionable.
Earlier this week, the Senators recalled Carter Yakemchuk and Jorian Donovan from their American Hockey League affiliate in Belleville. Both made their debut Tuesday in Detroit.
While head coach Travis Green leads the bench, assistant coach Nolan Baumgartner deserves huge credit for managing Ottawa’s blueline through this challenge.
A former player, the 50-year-old Baumgartner has helped Tyler Kleven and Jordan Spence elevate their game as they take on additional minutes and is working closely with Yakemchuk and Donovan.
Senators coaches Nolan Baumgartner, left, and Travis Green look on from behind the bench against the Carolina Hurricanes last month. (James Guillory/Imagn Images/Reuters)
“He’s working overtime right now,” joked Green.
“On the bench during the game there’s a lot of juggling going on. Obviously, if you’re coaching against us, you’re maybe trying to get certain lines out against certain defencemen, and that’s the on-ice game. And the off-ice part is lots of video trying to fast track some of these young guys.”
In their first game, both players were used somewhat sparingly. Donovan played 4:42, while Yakemchuk logged 12:46 of ice time. On Thursday, Donovan saw his ice time double to 9:22 while Yakemchuk played 17:42 and was even given a shift in overtime.
“He was solid,” Green said of Donovan. “He’s going to make a few mistakes here and there but I thought he gave us some solid minutes and that’s all we can ask of him.”
As for Yakemchuk, Green admitted he and Baumgarter had a quick conversation about whether or not they would use him in overtime and how to guard him against certain players.
“He’s going to learn a lot,” admitted Green. “He’s a young guy. He’s played two [NHL] games. There’s lots to learn. He’s a good hockey player.”