Ottawa Senators Fall to Washington Capitals in Overtime, 3-2

The Sens lost to the Washington Capitals Thursday night off a game-winner by Marcus Johansson, 2:04 minutes into overtime. The loss dropped the Senators record to 14-16-3 and lifted the Caps to 18-13-4. Ottawa now sits at the very bottom of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference with 31 points.

Evgeny Kuznetsov and Sonny Milano scored for the Capitals, while Alex DeBrincat and Drake Batherson answered for the Senators, as the game was all tied up at 2-2 after regulation. Johansson’s goal in overtime sent the Sens into the Christmas break on a three-game skid.

Goaltender Cam Talbot kept the Senators in the game, with 37 saves while his counterpart, Darcy Kuemper, made 23 saves in his first start since sustaining an injury on Dec. 3. 

Alexander Ovechkin’s chase to tie Gordie Howe for second place in NHL scoring history, behind Wayne Gretzky, will need to wait another game. The Russian star has been stuck on 800 goals now for four games. He did however chip in with 2 assists on Thursday.

Goal Summary

The Senators took an early lead in the first, as DeBrincat opened the scoring at 4:50 with only the second shot of the game. He tipped a slap shot from Nick Holden to beat Kuemper upstairs. 

The Caps were able to strike back at 7:01 with a blast by Evgeny Kuznetsov during a power play. The shot appeared to change direction on the way to beating Talbot, tying the game 1-1.

The Caps took over the lead in the second period with the man advantage when Ovechkin fired a laser which rebounded off Talbot. The rebound was eventually pushed in by Milano at 5:25 in the second.

The final goal in regulation came at 3:24 in the third period off a strike from Drake Batherson. Batherson scored his ninth of the season, extending his point streak to 10 straight games, which ties him for the third-longest streak in Ottawa Senator franchise history.

Johansson then finished off the game in OT, racing past Batherson to score his 7th of the season.

Up Next

Up next for the Senators will be the Boston Bruins on the 27th of December at the Canadian Tire Centre. The Bruins sit on top of the East at 26-4-2 and are considered by many to be the best team in the league at the moment.

To place bets on the upcoming Senators games check out our picks for the best NHL betting sites in Ontario.