Sanderson has 4 points, Senators score 6 in shutout win against Wild

OTTAWA -- Jake Sanderson had a goal and three assists, and the Ottawa Senators won their fourth straight game, 6-0 against the Minnesota Wild at Canadian Tire Centre Centre on Saturday.

“I think ‘Sandy’ is just one of those players that, he's just really good at everything,” Ottawa coach Travis Green said of the 22-year-old forward. “And he's still young; his game is still growing.

“At the beginning of the year, his plus-minus wasn't where he wanted it to be, but he's just an excellent player.”

It was a career-high four-point night for Sanderson, who also got his 100th NHL point on the opening goal.

“I'm just trying to have more of a shooting mentality,” Sanderson said. “Brady [Tkachuk] and Drake [Batherson] do such a good job at the net front. [I’m] just throwing pucks there and the goalie can't see it.”

Leevi Merilainen made 16 saves for the Senators (28-20-4) in his third shutout this season. He improved to 6-1-1 in his past eight starts.

“Awesome home stretch, I think,” Drake Bathersonsaid of Ottawa’s 4-0-0 homestand. “The last four games were great. Obviously, another shutout for Leevi, his [third] of the year. He's playing awesome.”

Batherson and Tim Stutzle each had a goal and two assists, and Brady Tkachuk, who will represent the United States in the 4 Nations Face-Off from Feb. 12-20, had a goal and an assist for the Senators.

“[The win] gives us, obviously, a lot of confidence,” Stutzle said. “We know every game is big for us right now. We’ve just got to keep chipping away, going day-by-day. And we've said it multiple times: We haven't accomplished anything yet. We want to get further and keep playing the way we've been playing.”

Filip Gustavsson, who will represent Sweden at the 4 Nations Face-Off, made 46 saves for Minnesota (31-18-4), which had won three straight.

“Embarrassing. Outworked, outskilled. Terrible,” Wild forward Mats Zuccarello said. “Even without the [five-minute] power play [to begin the third period], or whatever, we’re not even close today. I haven’t seen us like this in a while. So, this is not good enough and hopefully it was a one-off and we can come back to work on Tuesday (at the Boston Bruins).”

Ottawa was 3-for-8 on the power play; Minnesota was 0-for-3 and allowed a short-handed goal.

Josh Norris scored short-handed to give the Senators a 1-0 lead at 18:01 of the first period. Sanderson’s stretch pass deflected off Marco Rossi's skate, and Norris picked it up deep in the Wild’s zone before finishing a deke on the backhand past Gustavsson.

Stutzle tapped in a centering pass from Tkachuk at the edge of the crease to make it 2-0 at 7:38 of the second period.

“They were faster than us; we were slow tonight,” Minnesota forward Marcus Foligno said. “It’s just our hesitation in our game. Didn’t make a lot of plays, looked a little frustrated in some areas where we took some penalties. We’re not that team. They have a really good power play. We got beat.”

Michael Amadio beat Gustavsson with a quick shot over the glove from the slot to push it to 3-0 at 8:45.

Wild forward Ryan Hartman was assessed a match penalty for falling on top of Stutzle and driving his head into the ice on a face-off at the end of the second period. Stutzle had a gash above his left eye speaking to the media post-game.

“The ‘Hartsy’ thing, I don’t know. It’s a frustrating game, we’ve got blood flowing,” Foligno said. “You know, it is what it is. You take shots at us, and Stutzle’s going to do his thing. But we’ve got to be smarter. I think we just kind of got into that game and it hurt us. So, just got to be smarter all around and just got to be better next game.”

Ottawa scored three power-play goals during the five-minute major in 2:14 early in the third period.

“It was important to respond with some goals, for sure,” Green said. “You never like to see a play like that. Not a lot of place for that in the League.”

Sanderson’s point shot beat a screened Gustavsson to make it 4-0 at 0:38; Tkachuk’s wrist shot from the top of the right face-off circle squeaked under Gustavsson’s left arm to make it 5-0 at 1:37; and Batherson scored with a one-timer from the left face-off dot for the 6-0 final at 2:52.

“When they took that penalty, we had an opportunity to bury them, and I think we did,” Sanderson said.

NOTES: Norris left the game late in the third period in some discomfort after taking a bump during a zone entry. Green did not have an update. … The Senators have scored three short-handed goals in their past two games. … Norris became the second player in franchise history to score a short-handed goal in consecutive games, joining Daniel Alfredsson (Oct. 27-Nov. 1, 2007). … Merilainen tied Ray Emery for the most shutouts in one season by a rookie goaltender in Senators history. … Batherson scored for the first time in 11 games. … Sanderson has eight points (two goals, six assists) during a four-game point streak.