Reimer makes 16 saves, Senators shut out Canucks to push point streak to 7

VANCOUVER -- James Reimer made 16 saves in his first start since Feb. 5, and the Ottawa Senators extended their point streak to seven games with a 2-0 win against the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena on Monday.

It was the first shutout of the season for Reimer, who signed as a free agent with Ottawa on Jan.12 after sitting out the first half of the season, and his 32nd in the NHL.

“You just got to make sure you're really into it in the sense that you're trusting your game,” Reimer said. “There's a tendency to get jumpy or get a little antsy when you haven't seen game action in a bit and I think it's just trusting it.”

Ridly Greig and Brady Tkachuk scored for the Senators (32-22-9), who went 4-0-1 on a five-game road trip, are 5-0-2 during the seven-game streak and 9-1-2 in the past 12.

Tim Stutzle had an assist to extend his point streak to 13 games (17 points; eight goals, nine assists), and Ottawa held the Canucks to three shots in the third period, including two power plays without a single shot, while protecting a 1-0 lead.

“Just a complete game,” coach Travis Green said. “It's a combination of our defensive game, take a lot of pride in it, our penalty kill did a great job, and we knew we needed this win.”

Ottawa was playing its first game of the season without No. 1 defenseman Jake Sanderson, who is out week to week with an upper-body injury sustained at the Seattle Kraken on Saturday.

“’Sandy’ is a massive part of our team, obviously,” Reimer said. “You can't replace him and the old adage is everyone has to chip in, right? But I think we're built as a group, as a culture, to be able to do that. … We just dig in and know that we need to do our jobs well and be prepared to play. So for me, I was just trying to be in my own little bubble and make saves and give the guys a chance."

The Senators trail the Boston Bruins by three points for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.

Kevin Lankinen made 22 saves for the Canucks (19-37-8), who have one win in their past 10 games (1-6-3) and three in the past 26 (3-18-5).

“Obviously not the result we wanted,” Lankinen said. “I wish for a couple bounces here and there. That stings a little bit but just got to keep building. Individually and as a team, we've got to find the positive and keep building.”

Ottawa got a bounce to go ahead 1-0 at 10:11 of the second period after Artem Zub’s point shot hit Shane Pinto high and deflected to Greig alone in the slot, where he made a nice move to pull the puck from his backhand to forehand before firing a shot past Lankinen’s blocker.

Vancouver challenged for a missed stoppage because the puck hit Pinto in the glove as he tried to protect his face, but a video review deemed it a deflection and not a hand pass.

“That was just lucky. I just wanted to protect my face and ‘Rids’ picked it up and scored,” Pinto said. “I don't know if there's rules on that. I have no idea, so I didn't really know what to think.”

Tkachuk scored into an empty net at 18:40 of the third period to make it 2-0 and extend his point streak to seven games (seven points; three goals, four assists). Stutzle assisted to keep his streak alive.

Reimer made his best saves off rush chances, stopping Liam Ohgren on a 2-on-1 at 5:04 of the first period, and making a glove save on a close-range Max Sasson shot off a breakaway from the hash marks at 6:23 of the second.

“Just a veteran game,” Green said. “It's hard when you haven't played in that long, but when guys have played in the League for a while, they keep their game sharp, and he's worked extremely hard. I was real happy for him. He made some big saves in the second and shutouts are hard to come by in this league, and it’s nice to see him get one.”

Reimer said it meant a little more after starting the season out of the NHL.

“I'm obviously filled with a ton of gratitude for the opportunity to play,” Reimer said. “Every one is special and it's the best league in the world and so when you get to have a shutout, it's a testament to how we played tonight, but obviously, it's fun when it happens.”

NOTES: With Sanderson out, defenseman Nikolas Matinpalo returned for the first time in 12 games and played 13:52 with one shot. … Reimer is the third Senators goalie with a shutout at age 37 or older, joining Dominik Hasek, who did it five times, and Craig Anderson, who did it twice. Reimer became the third goalie in NHL history to record a shutout with seven different franchises, tying Cam Talbot and Sean Burke. … Canucks forward Evander Kane missed the game with upper-body discomfort, according to coach Adam Foote. … Forward Curtis Douglas made his Canucks debut in Kane’s place after being claimed off waivers from the Tampa Bay Lightning on Friday, finishing with four hits in 6:52.