By John Coon, The Associated Press on October 22, 2024.
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) – Anton Forsberg made 31 saves, Drake Batherson scored his third goal in two games and the Ottawa Senators won their first road game of the season, 4-0 victory over the Utah Hockey Club on Tuesday night. Batherson, Claude Giroux, Ridly Greig and Brady Tkachuk all scored in the first period as the Senators earned their first road shutout since 2021. It was was Utah’s first thome loss. Utah’s Connor Ingram had five first-period saves before he was replaced in net by Karel Vejmelka, who made 14 stops. Batherson and Giroux scored less than 90 seconds apart for a 2-0 lead. Both were assisted by Nick Jensen. Greig added an unassisted while on the power play. Tkachuk snapped the puck around Ingram’s side to put the Senators up 4-0. Takeaways Senators: Tough defense and efficient offense allowed Ottawa to punish a porous Utah defense prone to breakdowns. Utah: Capitalizing on scoring chances ended up being a huge problem. Utah attacked relentlessly and outshot Ottawa 31-22 but still came away empty-handed. Key moment After Ottawa generated a single shot on goal through the first 11 minutes, Batherson and Giroux scored four-one-four goals to help the Senators seize control. Key stat Utah had gone 8 for 8 on the penalty kill over its last two games before allowing Greig’s power- play goal. Ottawa is 9 for 22 on power plays this season after going 1 for 1 on Tuesday night. Up Next Ottawa continues a three-game road trip at Vegas on Friday night while Utah hosts Colorado on Thursday night. ___ AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl 17