Senators bend but don’t break in beating Bruins 6-5 in shootout

By Lisa Wallace, The Canadian Press on January 18, 2025.

OTTAWA – The Ottawa Senators had been told they would learn from the hard times and they’re finally starting to see some results.

Trailing the Boston Bruins 5-3 with under four minutes left in the third period, the Senators rallied with two late goals – one with 12 seconds remaining – to force overtime and eventually win 6-5 in a shootout.

Leevi Merilainen, who made 23 saves, stopped all three Boston shooters in his first NHL shootout and Tim Stutzle scored what proved to be the winner.

Merilainen, who is 4-0-1 in his last five, said he didn’t give much thought to the shootout.

The win allowed the Senators (23-18-4), who have two games in hand, to leapfrog the Bruins (22-19-6) in the tightly congested Eastern Conference standings.

“I mean, I think it just speaks to what we’ve learned, and what we learned over the years, all that adversity we faced,” said Senators captain Brady Tkachuk.

“Everything happens for a reason, and the belief that we have in this room, not just tonight, but every day, that we have for each other and what we want and what we want to do. It’s growing and growing every single day.”

The game also gave the Senators a taste of what playoff hockey could be like at Canadian Tire Centre, something no player on the Ottawa roster has experienced.

“There’s been some pretty awesome atmospheres, but I don’t know, this one just felt different,” admitted Tkachuk. “It felt like a preview of what’s to come.”

Trailing 5-3 Nick Jensen got the Senators within one and Josh Norris, with his second of the day, tied the game with a one-timer from the slot sending the sellout crowd into a frenzy.

“We didn’t execute well enough under their pressure when they had 6-on-5,” said Bruins interim coach Joe Sacco. “We just have to be better defending that lead when it’s 6-on-5. I don’t know, really, what else to say. We can’t give up slot chances like that. Give them credit, they were hungry, but we have to do a better job.”

Both teams had chances in overtime, but Merilainen and Jeremy Swayman, who made 39 saves, were up to the challenge.

The game featured plenty of physicality, with lots of post-whistle scrums, adding to the intensity.

Ottawa got off to a solid start jumping out to a 2-0 lead on goals from Adam Gaudette and Stutzle. But the Bruins were able to get out of the period tied 2-2 thanks to Pavel Zacha and David Pastrnak, who scored with 37.5 seconds remaining in the period.

“Thought we let our guard down a little bit after we got the lead, and we were playing really well in the first,” said Senators coach Travis Green. “But, like playoff hockey, when you do that, the other team will take advantage of it and they’re going to push.

“They’ve played a lot of playoff games over there. I thought we got it back for the third.”

The Bruins took their first lead early in the second on Morgan Geekie’s goal 66 seconds into the period. Norris tied it on the power play before a late goal by John Beecher gave the Bruins a 4-3 lead.

Vinni Lettieri provided the Bruins with what looked like some insurance, scoring his first of the season, midway through the third, but the Senators continued to push and were rewarded.

Norris spoke of the team’s ability to ride the emotional ebbs and flows of a game now.

“But that’s probably the biggest change,” Norris said. “I think just the game is so emotional. But, you know, we don’t have to waste our energy on being so emotional with our words. So I think, yeah, that’s been a big step.”

Ottawa won’t have long to enjoy this one as they take on the host New Jersey Devils Sunday afternoon.