Stutzle, Senators rally for OT win against Flyers

OTTAWA -- Tim Stutzle scored his second goal of the game at 1:40 of overtime for the Ottawa Senators, who rallied for a 4-3 win against the Philadelphia Flyers at Canadian Tire Centre on Sunday.

Stutzle, who also had an assist, one-timed a cross-slot pass from Drake Batherson in the right face-off circle past Ivan Fedotov during a 4-on-3 power play.

“Like a lot of our guys, he’s matured a lot,” Ottawa coach Travis Green said of Stutzle, 23. “And he’s a little bit different, they’re all a little bit different, but he’s a highly offensive player and he’s still very young. So, he’s still learning what his offensive capabilities are and still getting checked hard from other teams.

“We’re just scratching the surface; I don’t think guys reach their peak until probably 25, 26, 27, somewhere in there. And that’s exciting for not only him, but for a few other guys as well.”

Thomas Chabot tied the game in the third period and had two assists, and Anton Forsberg made 29 saves for the Senators (44-30-6), who will finish as the first wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference and face either the Toronto Maple Leafs or Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round.

“We want to win them all,” Stutzle said of the remaining games. “I think that’s the most important [part]; we want to build on this. I think if you play bad right before playoffs, it’s hard to go in and play your best right away, so we want to keep building and keep trying to play the best hockey we can.”

Garnet Hathaway had a goal and an assist, and Fedotov made 21 saves for the Flyers (33-37-10), who are 5-1-1 in seven games with Brad Shaw as coach.

“I liked our game,” Shaw said. “We didn’t have those long shifts where we had to defend. It didn’t feel like we were getting the game handed to us. I felt we were out in front of it, almost the whole [third] period; just pucks go in the net at times that you’d like to take back.”

Chabot tied it 3-3 at 12:53 of the third with a wrist shot over Fedotov’s right shoulder from the right dot. The Ottawa defenseman has nine points (two goals, seven assists) during a five-game point streak.

“It wasn’t our best game, that’s for sure,” Chabot said. “Sometimes it’s a bit harder to get up for some of those games; I think we’re all excited for what’s coming ahead. But at the end of the day, we kept going, kept going and we tied the game and got it done in overtime. So, that’s what we’ve got to take away from it.”

Philadelphia took a 1-0 lead at 11:43 of the second period when Nicolas Deslauriers redirected a Cam York point shot and scored on his own rebound.

Stutzle tied it 1-1 just 53 seconds later at 12:36. He took a stretch pass from Chabot, beat Egor Zamula wide, drove the net and scored with a snap shot blocker side. It was Stutzle’s first goal in nine games.

“Just give it to the German, right? Just let him do his thing,” Chabot said of Stutzle. “Let him go, and he did. Just happy for him, to see him have a night like this.”

Noah Cates gave the Flyers a 2-1 lead at 17:17 when he picked up his own rebound on the rush, circled the net and scored with a wraparound.

Fabian Zetterlund tied it 2-2 at 4:41 of the third period, taking a centering pass from Shane Pinto in the slot and lifting a wrist shot over Fedotov’s glove.

Hathaway gave Philadelphia a 3-2 lead at 7:33 when he picked the top left corner with a wrist shot from the bottom of the left circle.

“You play with pride in these games,” Hathaway said. “You play because you love it, you play because it’s your job and you play for the guy next to you. And it shouldn’t matter [where you are in the standings]; we don’t want to lose our identity, lose good habits, start playing sloppy hockey and have that lead into our summer.

“We take a lot of pride wearing this jersey. So, you’re going to see a competitive group until the end.”

Senators forward Nick Cousins had two shots and three hits in 13:28 of ice time in his return from a knee injury after missing 30 games.

“It was an emotional day for me,” Cousins said. “I mean, that’s a long time for me to be out. That’s the longest injury I’ve ever had. I woke up feeling it was almost like my first game again. I was happy to be able to come in and contribute, especially in a win.”

NOTES: It was Chabot’s 11th career three-point game; only two defensemen have had more for the Senators (Erik Karlsson, 32; Wade Redden, 14). … Stutzle’s sixth career overtime goal ties him with Karlsson and Mike Hoffman for third in franchise history.