Surging Senators stymie Canucks’ offence
OTTAWA 3 VANCOUVER 0
VANCOUVER — Ryan Dzingel scored twice and Craig Anderson made 22 saves for his first shutout of the season and the 34th of his career Tuesday as the Ottawa Senators defeated the Vancouver Canucks 3-0.
Jean-Gabriel Pageau added another into an empty net for the Senators.
Anderson entered play with a 3.66 goals-against average and an .866 save percentage, but was flawless as Ottawa (4-2-0) opened a three-game road trip through western Canada with a solid defensive effort.
Ryan Miller made 25 stops for Vancouver (4-2-1), which has dropped three in a row and lost at home for the first time in 2016-17.
After opening the scoring in the first period, Dzingel added his fourth of the season at 2:12 at of the third, taking a slick no-look feed from Bobby Ryan in front and outwaiting Miller for the first two-goal game of his career.
The 24-year-old played the first five games of the season on Ottawa’s fourth line, but was promoted to the second unit with Ryan and Derick Brassard against Vancouver, and made the most of his opportunity.
The Senators had surrendered nine goals in third periods coming into Tuesday, and Anderson had to be sharp on a shot off the stick of Bo Horvat from the slot with about 12 minutes left in regulation.
Henrik Sedin had a golden opportunity for Vancouver with under 10 minutes to go, but decided on a pass despite getting a good look at the Ottawa goal with Anderson out of position.
Anderson then stopped Sven Baertschi on a breakaway with six minutes to go to preserve the shut out before Pageau scored his first into an empty net.
Ottawa carried the play for much of the first period and led 1-0 on Dzingel’s third of the season at 7:38 after the Senators jumped on a Canucks’ turnover in the neutral zone. Miller stopped Brassard’s initial shot on a 2-on-2 rush with Vancouver’s forwards in the middle of a change, but Dzingel was right there to roof the rebound.
The Canucks finally got going while the teams were playing 4 on 4 late in the period, with Horvat making a nice move to get a shot away that whipped over the Ottawa net before Ben Hutton’s blast from the point leaked through Anderson and dribbled harmlessly wide.
Vancouver started much better in the second period and eventually had a couple of great chances. Anderson stopped Daniel Sedin on two shots in tight before the Senators goalie got a toe on Markus Granlund’s quick shot.
The Canucks suffered their first regulation loss of the season on Sunday in a 4-2 setback at Anaheim, a result that came on the heels of a 4-3 shootout defeat to Los Angeles the previous night.
The Senators, meanwhile, dropped a 4-1 decision at home to Tampa Bay on Saturday.
Troy Stecher made his NHL debut for Vancouver after being called up from the AHL on Monday. The 22-year-old defenceman from nearby Richmond signed with the organization as a undrafted college free agent in the off-season, and took the place of Christopher Tanev (lower-body injury) alongside Alexander Edler on Vancouver’s top pairing.
Also missing for Vancouver were forwards Alexandre Burrows (neck) and Derek Dorsett (shoulder). Jayson Megna was also recalled from the AHL and suited up for his first game with the club on the fourth line.
Lightning 7, Leafs 3
TORONTO — Maple Leafs head coach Mike Babcock briefly considered pulling Frederik Andersen in what was ultimately the worst game of his NHL career.
Andersen gave up a career-high seven goals on only 24 shots Tuesday night, the third time in his first five starts as a Leaf that the 27-year-old has allowed at least five goals and fourth time he’s allowed four or more. Andersen is sporting an unseemly .851 save percentage so far this season.
“I felt like everything just bounced the wrong way and [I] wasn’t able to make any saves when we needed to,” said Andersen after the 7-3 defeat to the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Tampa struck for four goals on the first 11 shots, including a pair by Steven Stamkos who matched a career-high with four points. Still Babcock stuck with his struggling No. 1, whom the Leafs acquired in a summer trade with Anaheim.
“He’s my guy, I want him to play,” Babcock said after Toronto’s fifth loss in six games to start the season (1-2-3).
It didn’t take long for Tampa to get to Andersen, Stamkos scoring the game’s first goal 79 seconds into the opening frame.
The Leafs outplayed the Lightning for much of the evening, outshooting them 43-24 overall. Toronto’s hotshot rookie duo of Matthews and William Nylander came up with a goal and assist each in defeat.
Penguins 3, Panthers 2
PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby is just happy to be back playing hockey again.
His teammates feel the same way, as a goal from Crosby in his first appearance of the season was all the Penguins needed to overcome a slow start.
Crosby jump-started a comeback as the Pittsburgh Penguins rallied from an early two-goal deficit to beat the Florida Panthers 3-2 on Tuesday night.