Merilainen makes 34 saves, Senators defeat Utah Hockey Club

OTTAWA -- Leevi Merilainen made 34 saves, and the Ottawa Senators won 3-1 against the Utah Hockey Club at Canadian Tire Centre on Sunday.

Merilainen, a rookie who is 5-1-1 in his past seven starts, stretched to make a pad save on a bat from Logan Cooley to keep it 3-1 at 18:14 of the third period. He then stopped Nick Schmaltz point blank in the slot 13 seconds later.

“I don’t think it was by any means our best game or our cleanest game, but we just found a way to win,” Ottawa captain Brady Tkachuk said. “Leevi made some huge saves for us. You know, it’s nice, all those lessons we learned, just finding a way to win any way we can.”

Claude Giroux had a goal and an assist, Tim Stutzle had two assists, and Tkachuk and Ridly Greig each scored for the Senators (26-20-4), who won both games of a back-to-back after a 2-1 victory against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday.

“It wasn’t that great the first two periods,” Giroux said. “I feel like we were still defending OK, and our goalie made some big saves for us to keep us in it. But it was 1-1 after two and it didn’t feel like it. I think in the third we kind of cranked it up a level and played a little better.”

Clayton Keller scored to extend his point streak to seven games, and Karel Vejmelka made 24 saves for Utah (21-21-7), which has lost two straight.

“They check well,” Utah defenseman Olli Maatta said of Ottawa. “Obviously, in the neutral zone and on the forecheck they’re on top of guys. I think we could’ve done a better job putting it behind [them] like we did in the first and second period, playing in their end. I think when you have to defend for a long time in your own zone, something’s going to open up. I don’t think we stuck with it enough.”

Giroux gave Ottawa a 2-1 lead at 7:33 of the third period. He took a seam pass from Stutzle, skated in all alone and finished a deke on his backhand past Vejmelka. It was Giroux’s first goal in 14 games.

“We played good until we gave up the second goal,” Utah coach Andre Tourigny said. “I think we were stingy defensively. It’s a team that’s really good defensively, as well, but we created off of our forecheck, off of our intensity, and we had enough offense. Unfortunately, we made a mistake when they scored the second goal and that threw us off a little bit. I didn’t like the way we responded to that.”

Tkachuk scored on a rebound at the edge of the crease to make it 3-1 at 13:22. It was Tkachuk’s first goal and point in 11 games.

“First and foremost, I’m happy that it resulted in a win,” Tkachuk said of his goal. “I think that’s always been the goal throughout this year, but I mean, I think anybody would be lying to you in saying that it’s not in the back of your head a little bit. That’s kind of what they pay me to do, to produce and be a top guy, and … I didn’t have the solution for it. I was trying, but I just couldn’t find a way. I’m just happy it resulted in a win today.”

Greig gave the Senators a 1-0 lead at 12:16 of the second period when he scored off a cross-slot pass from Shane Pinto on a 2-on-1 short-handed rush.

Keller tied it 1-1 at 13:52 after his pass attempt redirected off of Giroux’s stick and Greig’s leg before getting past an unsuspecting Merilainen. Keller has 13 points (four goals, nine assists) during his point streak.

“We generated enough chances; we had two breakaways,” Tourigny said. “We could’ve pulled away, but we didn’t. So, you need to stay with it and be patient. We’re on the road, it’s 1-1 after two. We need to find a way to get a point.”

It was the 10th game in 16 days for Ottawa. The Senators are 6-0-0 in their back-to-backs over the past three weekends.

“It’s tough, especially with travel too, and back-to-backs don’t make it any easier,” Senators defenseman Jake Sanderson said. “But we’re being pretty resilient right now. … We’re just digging in right now; it’s an important time of the year. We’re not going to go down. We’re going to keep grinding.”

NOTES: Utah forward Liam O'Brien had a game-high seven hits. … Merilainen is 3-0-1 in his first four games at home to begin his NHL career. The only rookie goaltender in franchise history to have a longer such point streak is Jani Hurme (3-0 with three ties from 1999-00 to 2000-01). … With his 181st career goal, Tkachuk passed Dany Heatley for fifth on the Senators’ all-time list.