Senators rally late, defeat Jets on Tkachuk's OT goal

WINNIPEG -- Tim Stutzle had three assists, including setting up Brady Tkachuk for the game-winning goal at 2:11 of overtime, and the Ottawa Senators rallied late for a 3-2 win against the Winnipeg Jets at Canada Life Centre on Monday.

“That was a great win,” Ottawa coach Travis Green said. “They kind of had us on our heels, and I loved how we stuck with it in the third period. I've been saying it a lot, we’ve liked the way we've played as of late, and it's not easy to stick with your game when you're not getting the wins. You know you're playing decently, so I was happy with what we did.”

Tkachuk won with a one-timer from the right circle off a pass from Stutzle, who was sprung on a 2-on-1 by a stretch feed from Jake Sanderson.

“It's great play by [Sanderson] to read that we had a 2-on-1, and a great pass by 'Timmy,'” Tkachuk said. “It's been a grind to a certain extent, and yeah, I'm just really happy with the two points at the end of the day.”

Sanderson was the player who had forced overtime for the Senators, tying the game 2-2 at 18:06 of the third period with a point shot that deflected in off the stick of Jets forward Mark Scheifele.

“I mean, I think we lead the league in losses by one goal, and we made an emphasis at 6-on-5 that we weren't going to get denied," Tkachuk said. "So I mean, it took a little puck luck, but I think we're due for that.”

Nick Cousins also scored, and Linus Ullmark made 23 saves for the Senators (15-13-4), who concluded a three-game road trip 2-1-0.

“I really liked our third period,” Cousins said. “I thought it could have been easy just for us to mail it in with the way things have been going for us, but we dug in in the third, played a really good road third period, and got one with the goalie pulled. So, that was huge. ... Great road trip for us.”

Neal Pionk and Logan Stanley scored for the Jets (15-15-2), who have lost four of five (1-3-1) and 10 of their past 13 (3-8-2). Connor Hellebuyck made 28 saves.

“That is a game that should have been won by us,” Winnipeg coach Scott Arniel said. “At the end of the day, these are the games you've got to learn to win. ... We've got to find a way, however that is. If that's making the next play so that it gets out of the zone, if that's blocking a shot, whatever it is, those are the things [we need to do]. We need two points. We need them bad."

Cousins gave the Senators a 1-0 lead at 10:47 of the second period. Kurtis MacDermid sent a cross-ice pass to Cousins, who skated all alone down the right wing before scoring with a shot that went in off the blocker of Hellebuyck.

The assist was the first point of the season for MacDermid, who was playing in his 300th NHL game.

“If you watch the play, I think the bench was probably happier than [MacDermid] was,” Cousins said. “So, great play by him. He kind of did all the work, I was just fortunate enough to be on the receiving end of the pass. And then, obviously, lucky to go in.”

"[MacDermid] brings, I mean, so much energy. The boys absolutely love him in the room. He’s a great teammate, and he sticks up for everybody when he has to.”

Pionk tied it 1-1 at 15:37 with a one-timer from above the circles that fluttered through traffic.

“I didn't think our execution was great at the start of the first period, kind of a theme that continued throughout the game," Pionk said. "I thought we had good spurts, good spurts in the second. (We) played well enough to win, just didn't get it done.”

Stanley put the Jets in front 2-1 at 18:35, scoring short side under Ullmark's blocker with a wrist shot on a rush. It was Stanley's sixth goal in 32 games this season. He scored only five goals in his first five NHL seasons (202 games).

“We did a lot of good things tonight,” Stanley said. “Their goalie made some great saves. Mistakes are going to happen in a game, and two of them ended up in the back of our net. (It’s) kind of been a theme right now, but (this was) a game that I think we should have won.”

NOTES: Stutzle extended his multipoint streak to four games (four goals, five assists). ... Jets forward Kyle Connor had the primary assist on Pionk's goal to extend his point streak to nine games (four goals, nine assists).