The Ottawa Senators climbed out of a two-goal, third-period deficit with two extra-attacker goals and beat the visiting Boston Bruins 6-5 in a shootout on Saturday.
Josh Norris scored his second goal of the game with 12 seconds left in regulation, and after a scoreless overtime, Tim Stutzle netted the only goal of the shootout to give Ottawa the extra point and climb above Boston in the Eastern Conference wild-card standings.
Ottawa goaltender Leevi Merilainen, who had a .971 save percentage across the previous four games, allowed five goals on 28 shots, but stopped all three of Boston’s shootout attempts.
Stutzle and Nick Jensen each had a goal and an assist in regulation, Adam Gaudette also scored and Claude Giroux dished out two assists for Ottawa, which is 4-0-1 in its last five games.
David Pastrnak (one goal, two assists) posted his third straight three-point game to lead the Bruins, who had won their last two games.
The Bruins’ Morgan Geekie and Pavel Zacha had one goal and one assist, Mason Lohrei assisted twice and Vinni Lettieri and John Beecher also lit the lamp.
Boston goaltender Jeremy Swayman made 39 saves.
Ottawa’s late rally began with Jensen corralling a loose puck and beating Swayman with a short-side snap shot with 3:13 remaining.
The tying goal with 12 seconds left in regulation saw Norris rip home a one-time feed from Giroux in the slot.
Gaudette needed only 1:47 to put Ottawa in the lead, banging in a loose puck that Giroux entered into the crease from the right side.
Stutzle then slipped down to the bottom of the left circle to score his own rebound, making it a 2-0 game at 7:35.
Minutes after Merilainen’s glove save to rob Matt Poitras on a two-on-one, Zacha received Pastrnak’s perfect give-and-go and cut to the right crease for a backhand goal that got the Bruins on the board at 11:07.
Swayman’s key save on a Shane Pinto two-on-none break-in allowed Boston to tie the game with 37.5 seconds to go in the first. Pastrnak stepped into a wrist shot on the right side, beating Merilainen high to the blocker side.
The Bruins took their first lead at 1:06 of the second when an open Geekie finished a tape-to-tape backhand pass from Zacha, but Norris scored on the power play to bring the Senators back even at 5:41, tipping a Jake Sanderson point shot as it sailed through traffic.
Boston entered the second intermission with a 4-3 lead. Following an offensive-zone faceoff, Beecher finished a long shot that beat Merilainen under his blocker with 5:22 left in the period.
At 11:23 of the third, Lettieri slotted home his first goal as a Bruin off a Justin Brazeau centering pass to make it 5-3.
–Field Level Media
