The Canadian Press
Lisa Wallace
OTTAWA—The Senators may not have played perfect hockey last night.
But they were satisfied with the end result.
Mika Zibanejad scored the shootout winner as Ottawa edged the Winnipeg Jets 3-2, giving the Senators just their second home this season.
“There were small, very small lapses where we got away from it at times, but I think we rebounded well,” said Kyle Turris.
“We battled for pretty much most of the game.”
Cody Ceci and Bobby Ryan scored in regulation time for Ottawa (7-4-2), which improved to 2-3-2 on home ice.
Craig Anderson made 38 saves.
Anderson was solid for the Senators—making a number of key saves, including a huge one on Mark Scheifele in the dying minutes of overtime.
“The two points is huge for us and to keep climbing the standings,” noted Anderson.
“We can just build on our game and feel good about ourselves.”
Andrew Ladd and Dustin Byfuglien scored for Winnipeg (8-4-2) while Michael Hutchinson turned away 29 shots.
With the loss, Winnipeg wrapped up its four-game eastern road trip with a 2-1-1 record.
Earlier this season, Byfuglien admitted he wasn’t a fan of the three-on-three overtime format—and he was less than impressed with his second experience.
“It’s terrible, it’s not hockey,” he stressed.
“It’s for the fans, not the hockey players.”
Trailing 2-1 to start the third period, the Jets didn’t wait long to tie things up.
Byfuglien stripped Erik Karlsson of the puck at centre along the boards, then beat Anderson just 26 seconds into the period.
“We were good in the third, I mean we were on it and had good pace,” noted Jets’ coach Paul Maurice.
“It’s good to see us come back to get a point.
“You don’t like losing in a shootout,” he added. “We didn’t lose the hockey game so it’s a pretty good trip for us.”
Byfuglien, who had seven shots and five hits, was praised by Maurice after the game.
While the Jets’ coach credited Anderson’s performance, he also said “past that [Byfuglien] was the best player on the ice [Thursday].
“He was the most dominant force and he’s been like that for a while,” Maurice said.
The Senators had opened the scoring midway through the first as Jean-Gabriel Pageau won a face-off and dropped the puck to Ceci, who beat Hutchinson with a floater from just inside the blueline.
The goal marked just the second time Ottawa has scored in the opening period through seven home games.
“It’s nice to start the game that way,” said Ceci. “We haven’t had the best starts.
“It’s always nice to get a win,” he added.
“It’s a big one for us to get at home since we’ve been struggling at home lately.”
Elsewhere in the NHL, Montreal beat the N.Y. Islanders 4-1, Calgary edged Philadelphia 2-1 (OT), Nashville nipped Minnesota 3-2, and Tampa Bay downed Buffalo 4-1.
Washington beat Boston 4-1, Arizona doubled Colorado 4-2, San Jose downed Florida 5-2, and Columbus nipped L.A. 3-2.
